Kaiser reaches new deal with union hospital workers, averting future strikes

(Photo: The Kaiser Permanente office in Vacaville is pictured in a panorama captured by a Google Street View vehicle in 2019. Photo courtesy Google, Graphic by Solano NewsNet)

Kaiser Permanente and labor unions representing health care workers at the for-profit medical organization have reached a tentative deal toward a new contract that will avert future strikes.

The tentative agreement announced on Monday followed a disruptive three-day strike that involved tens of thousands of nurses, pharmacists, emergency room technicians and other medical workers — the largest work stoppage involving medical professionals in U.S. history.

Terms of the tentative agreement were not available as of Friday morning. The agreement was first reported by the Wall Street Journal newspaper.

The deal comes one day after state officials reached a tentative agreement with Kaiser Permanente in a separate matter concerning the hospital chain’s mental health care provided to patients.

That deal came after state officials found Kaiser patients waited longer than state law allows for follow-up care for behavioral and mental health issues.

As part of the agreement, Kaiser agreed to pay a $50 million fine and invest more than $150 million over five years to improve its mental health care services.