LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥 A massive health care strike over wages and staffing shortages entered its final day on Friday without a deal between industry giant Kaiser Permanente and the unions representing the 75,000 workers who picketed this week.
The carried out in multiple states is set to officially end Saturday at 6 a.m., and workers were expected to return to their jobs in Kaiser鈥檚 hospitals and clinics that serve nearly 13 million Americans.
The most recent bargaining concluded midday Wednesday. Additional sessions were scheduled by the parties for Oct. 12 and 13, the unions announced Friday.
The decision to walk off an important job was very difficult, said Josephine Rios, 55, a nurse attendant who takes in patients for surgery at a hospital in Irvine, California.
鈥淯nfortunately, it鈥檚 a financial burden for us that live paycheck to paycheck," she said. "We can鈥檛 afford to strike a long time, but it鈥檚 a double-edged sword. We can鈥檛 afford not to strike.鈥
A fall heat wave did not deter picketing at Los Angeles Medical Center in Hollywood, where on Friday the high is 96 degrees Fahrenheit (36 Celsius).
鈥淭he energy is high out here today,鈥 said Lakeshia Howze, a unit secretary for the emergency department. 鈥淓verybody's still onboard.鈥
The strike for three days in California 鈥 where most of Kaiser鈥檚 facilities are located 鈥 as well as in Colorado, Oregon and Washington was a last resort after Kaiser executives ignored the short-staffing crisis worsened by the coronavirus pandemic, union officials said. Their goal was to bring the problems to the public's consciousness for support, according to the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions. Some 180 workers from facilities in Virginia and Washington, D.C., also picketed but only on Wednesday.
鈥淣o health care worker wants to go on strike,鈥 Caroline Lucas, the coalition's executive director, said Thursday. 鈥淚 hope that the last few days have helped escalate this issue.鈥
The company based in Oakland, California, warned the work stoppage could cause delays in people getting appointments and scheduling non-urgent procedures.
Kaiser spokesperson Hilary Costa said the company was working to reconvene bargaining 鈥渁s soon as possible.鈥
Unions representing Kaiser workers in August asked for a $25 hourly minimum wage, as well as increases of 7% each year in the first two years and 6.25% each year in the two years afterward.
Kaiser, which turned a $2.1 billion profit for the quarter, said in a statement Wednesday that it proposes minimum hourly wages between $21 and $23 depending on the location. The company said it also completed hiring 10,000 more people, adding to the 51,000 workers the hospital system has brought on board since 2022.
Union members say understaffing is boosting the hospital system鈥檚 profits but hurting patients, and executives have been bargaining in bad faith during negotiations.
Lucas said the two sides have made several tentative agreements, but nothing in major areas like long-term staffing plans and wage increases. The coalition, which represents about 85,000 of the health system鈥檚 employees nationally, is waiting for Kaiser to resume talks, she added.
鈥淭hey could call now and say, 鈥榃e want to pull together a Zoom in 20 minutes,鈥欌 she said. 鈥淲e would be on that Zoom in 20 minutes.鈥
The workers鈥 last contract was negotiated in 2019, before the pandemic.
The strike comes in a year when there have been work stoppages within multiple industries, including , and . The industry alone has been hit by several strikes this year as it confronts burnout from heavy workloads 鈥 problems greatly exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The White House on Thursday said President Joe Biden 鈥渁lways鈥 supports union members who choose to strike when asked about the demonstration by Kaiser workers. The president last month joined on the 12th day of their strike against major carmakers, becoming the first known sitting president in U.S. history to join an active picket line.
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Associated Press Writers Seung Min Kim in Washington and John Antczak in Los Angeles contributed.
