The United Nurses Associations of California (UNAC)/ Union of Health Care Professionals (UHCP)
& Kaiser Permanente Negotiations Updates


  • Kaiser's LMPFLASH 05/08/08 Release

  • As of Monday, 04/07/08, according to this Kaiser Permanente email, UNAC Cancels Strike, Pulls out of the Labor Mangement Partnership and no longer represents the recently organized specialty nurses unit.


  • As of today, 04/04/08, the Specialty Nurses working at Kaiser Permanente who recently joined UNAC are scheduled to STRIKE AND PICKET various Southern California, Kaiser Permanente locations between 04/07/08 and 04/11/08. There are approximately 800 Nurses within this unit (103 of whom work in San Diego).

    According to our sources, one of the primary sticking points in the negotiations (which are currently being assisted by the Federal Mediation Board) which have thus far created an impasse is a benefit (which is currently provided to some of Kaiser's Unrepresented Workers) and which is being sought by the nurses.

    As stated within the OPEIU, Local 30 contract, we have a 'No Strike - No Lockouts' clause which is currently in effect for all OPEIU, Local 30 Members working at Kaiser Permanente. "The Employer and the Union realize that a medical facility is different in its operation fro industries because of the vital services it renders to the community and for humanitarian reasons, agree that there will be no lockouts on the part of the Employer, nor suspensions of work on the part of the employees. It being one of the purposes of this Agreement to guarantee that there will be no strikes, lockouts, or work stoppages and that all disputes will be settled by the procedure provided in this Agreement." (Page 73, Paragraph 2200, Article 22, of the Agreement between Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Southern California Medical Group and The Office and Professional Employees International Union, Local 30)

    All OPEIU, Local 30 Members working at Kaiser Permanente locations within Southern California are to report to work as scheduled. DURING OPEIU, Local 30 Member's NON-WORK TIME (BEFORE work, AFTER work or DURING LUNCH), they are welcome to support UNAC Members by walking with them on their picket lines. Reportedly, Striking/Picketing UNAC Members will not be permitted to utilize any Vacation or Sick Leave during the Strike. Hopefully, an acceptable resolution may be reached soon.

    For additional information:

    - See Message from Kaiser Permanente Re: Expected UNAC Strike/ Picketing (04/03/08)
    - See OPEIU, Local 30 Executive Director's Memo (04/04/08)
    - Contact UNAC/ UHCP (Here) or call (619) 280-5401


    • (UNAC Union Recognition & Background Information)
    March 19, 2007
    Welcome New Members at Kaiser!
    Plans Underway to Negotiate Contract

    “Overjoyed” is the word Frank Schubert, RN, used. “Excited,” say Woodland Hills case managers Brenda Zazvrskey and Sylvia Trelatsky. They are talking about joining with nearly 800 colleagues throughout Kaiser Permanente Southern California to become UNAC/UHCP members by majority sign-up on March 2.

    “I salute and applaud you for the work and time you devoted and to your victorious outcome,” says Diana Hansen, RN at Kaiser Riverside Medical Center, who has been a UNAC/UHCP member for more than eight years, in welcoming her new colleagues.

    These new and longtime UNAC/UHCP nurses aren’t the only ones who are overjoyed and excited. The entire union movement is celebrating the victory.

    On their blogs, the AFL-CIO and AFSCME herald the win as proof that majority sign-up is the fair and civilized way for working professionals to express whether they want a union—a stark contrast to the harassment and intimidation most working people face when they want a voice on the job. Union members are contacting their members of Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make majority sign-up the law of the land.

    Meanwhile, the Kaiser Permanente Labor Management Partnership notes that our victory strengthens all the unions throughout the system by boosting membership in the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions above 90,000 for the first time ever.

    Within days of their victory, new members have been volunteering to write their new constitution and negotiate their new contract. If you are a new member and have questions, call UNAC/UHCP Executive Vice President Ken Deitz, RN, at 800-762-5874.


    March 5, 2007
    Nearly 800 Nurses Join UNAC/UHCP
    Majority Sign-Up Process Honors Our Choice

    Our union is strong and growing! Nearly 800 more nurses from all of Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California facilities joined UNAC/UHCP on March 2. Like the other health care professionals in our union, our newest members want a voice in patient care issues such as workload, staffing and workplace safety.

    “Throughout my nursing education and career, teachers and managers would tell me nurses shouldn’t be in unions because we are professionals,” say Shirley Johnston, R.N., a care coordinator at Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Park. “But now I see that unions mean nurses working together and having more of a voice in issues,” says Johnston.

    Several UNAC/UHCP members took time away from their nursing duties to aid the organizing campaign, talking to their fellow health care professionals about how being in a union has helped them be a better advocate for patients.

    “March 2, 2007 starts a new era for the hard-working and devoted members of this union,” says Scott Bryant, RN, a discharge planner at Kaiser Permanente South Bay. “We were the only group of nurses not in a union, and we want a voice to negotiate for the wages and job security that will help us recruit and retain nurses.”

    The nurses joined our union by majority sign-up, whereby they simply indicated their desire to join the union by signing union authorization cards and then the signatures were checked by a neutral third party. Kaiser Permanente honored their choice. The majority sign-up process is a fairer alternative to the often unfair, contentious union election process.

    In 1997 Kaiser Permanente and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions (of which UNAC/UHCP is a part) agreed to allow new units of workers to choose a voice on the job by majority sign-up. Since then, nurses at Kaiser Permanente Orange County, optometrists, and some groups of physician assistants have joined UNAC/UHCP by signing union authorization cards.

    UNAC/UHCP members believe all working people should have the right to decide whether to join a union by majority sign-up, which is why we’re emailing our members of Congress and encouraging them to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. Scroll down to find out more and email your U.S. Senators.

    “Now that 800 more nurses at Kaiser Permanente have joined UNAC/UHCP, the voices of health care professionals are even stronger and we can have an even bigger role in helping Kaiser Permanente be the best place to get care and to work,” says Kathy J. Sackman, RN, UNAC/UHCP president.