[1/2] A Kaiser Permanente health care center is pictured in Anaheim, California, U.S., October 3, 2023 as more than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers could go on strike from Oct. 4 to Oct. 7 across the United States.
REUTERS/Mike Blake Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Kaiser Permanente FollowWASHINGTON, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Kaiser Permanente appeared headed for a labor clash with 75,000 of its healthcare workers as union leaders said contract talks had stalled on Tuesday, leaving the two sides hours away from a threatened three-day strike in several states.
Kaiser said its hospitals and emergency departments would remain open in the event of a strike, staffed by doctors, managers and other non-union "contingency workers."
As of Tuesday, the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions said the healthcare giant had yet to offer acceptable terms to address severe staffing shortages, or to embrace adequate improvements in pay and benefits sought by the workers.
Staffing levels have been a major sticking point, with the union insisting Kaiser needs to hire 10,000 new healthcare workers to fill current vacancies.
Persons:
Mike Blake, Kaiser Permanente, Kaiser, Caroline Lucas, Hilary Costa, Ahmed Aboulenein, Steve Gorman, Bill Berkrot, Gerry Doyle
Organizations:
Kaiser Permanente, Permanente, REUTERS, D.C, Union, Coalition, Kaiser Permanente Unions, Kaiser, U.S . Bureau of Labor Statistics, Thomson
Locations:
Anaheim , California, U.S, United States, California , Oregon, Washington, , Colorado, Virginia, Georgia, Hawaii, California , Colorado , Oregon, Los Angeles