Kaiser Permanente workers union reaches tentative deal with health care giant

Colorado Kaiser Permanente health care workers affiliated with the local chapter of the Service Employees International Union have reached a tentative agreement with the health care company, according to a statement posted Thursday on the union website.

The agreement includes a 21% raise for unionized workers over the next four years, enhanced protection from job outsourcing, and a minimum wage increase to $23 per hour by June 2026. New hires and transfers would also be required to commit to their positions for one year to “reduce internal churn and get to outside hiring faster,” according to the union statement, and the agreement would create provisions for “mass hiring events” as well as invest $100 million in a program to train future health care workers.

“Together, we have achieved a milestone that will positively impact the lives of healthcare workers across Colorado for years to come,” the union website post reads.

A Kaiser Permanente post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Friday morning confirmed the tentative agreement.

“We are excited to have reached a tentative agreement with the frontline health care workers,” the post said, citing the union and thanking U.S. Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su for her help in the process.

Kaiser did not have a press release available on the company website as of Friday morning and said on social media that a "full announcement will follow shortly."

Thousands of unionized Kaiser Permanente health care workers in Colorado and across the country went on strike in early October, demanding better pay and more staffing. The strikers include nurses, home health aides, ultrasound sonographers and administrative staff, as well as technicians in radiology, X-ray, surgical, pharmacy and emergency departments.

The unions representing Kaiser workers originally asked for a $25 hourly minimum wage, as well as increases of 6.5% each year in the first two years and 5.75% each year in the two years afterward–all slightly higher asks than what has been negotiated in the tentative agreement announced this week.

The Kaiser workers’ last contract was negotiated in 2019, before the pandemic.

At a Kaiser strike outside Kaiser offices in Longmont, Colorado, on October 4, Kaiser medical assistant Justice Wilson said she had seen the impacts of understaffing and insufficient pay impact local patients.

“It's taking a week or two weeks or six weeks, really, to get people in to see their providers for rashes and sickness and stubbed toes and medications,” Wilson said. “We're setting up follow-up care six weeks out because we just don't have the staff to get people in, in a reasonable amount of time.”

Agreement measures are still pending ratification. The union recommends “an immediate YES vote.” A virtual town hall on October 17 will offer further updates on the tentative agreement and ratification vote details, according to the union.

Strikers in Colorado suggested in early October that more union-led strikes were possible in the future if they were unable to reach an agreement with Kaiser soon.