This “Oakland News: 1,000s Of Kaiser Permanente Workers To Protest Today Labor Day At 10 A.M. As Strike Nears” press release sent to Zennie62Media.
OAKLAND, Calif. – In Oakland News, Actor Danny Glover will join thousands of Kaiser Permanente workers, patients, clergy, elected leaders and community allies to protest TODAY at 10 a.m., Monday, Sept. 2 at Mosswood Park, 3612 Webster St., against the healthcare giant’s unfair labor practices and shift from prioritizing patients and the community to profits and enriching top executives. More than 80,000 Kaiser Permanente workers nationwide are set to strike in early October.
Following the 30-minute rally at which Danny Glover will speak, workers will march to the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, 3600 Broadway in Oakland, where 80 of them are expected to engage in civil disobedience by blocking an intersection near the facility.
“On the one day meant to recognize working people, it’s a shame that Kaiser Permanente is attacking the same employees who made it successful in the first place,” said Isis Acevedo, a schedule maintenance clerk at Kaiser Permanente in South San Francisco. “We reject what Kaiser has become, and instead urge the corporation to join us in the fight to provide quality patient care and protect good, middle-class jobs that America needs.”
Similar Labor Day protests of Kaiser Permanente workers will be held in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Denver and Portland, Ore., where thousands more combined are expected to demonstrate against Kaiser’s failure to bargain in good faith.
While Kaiser Permanente is a “non-profit,” it has reported profits of $11 billion since Jan. 1, 2017, including $5.2 billion just in the first half of 2019. In addition, it has amassed more than $37 billion in reserves and pays at least 36 executives more than $1 million annually, led by CEO Bernard Tyson and his $16 million-a-year compensation.
The strike would begin in early October and affect more than 80,000 Kaiser Permanente employees nationwide, of which 66,000 are based in California. It would be the largest walkout since 185,000 Teamsters went on strike at United Parcel Service in 1997.
In December 2018, the National Labor Relations Board charged Kaiser Permanente with failing to bargain in good faith. Since then, Kaiser has continued to bargain in bad faith and commit additional unfair labor practices.
The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions comprises unions in California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Hawaii, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Their national contract with Kaiser Permanente expired Sept. 30, 2018.
Workers want Kaiser Permanente to bargain in good faith and stop committing unfair labor practices, and are fighting for a new contract that would:
1. Restore a true worker-management partnership, and have Kaiser bargain in good faith;
2. Ensure safe staffing and compassionate use of technology;
3. Build the workforce of the future to deal with major projected shortages of licensed and accredited staff in the coming years; and
4. Protect middle-class jobs with wages and benefits that can support families.
WHAT: Actor Danny Glover will join thousands of healthcare workers and allies to protest and march against the corporation’s unfair labor practices and shift from caring about the community to piling up enormous profits and enriching top executives. More than 80 of them are expected to engage in civil disobedience by blocking an intersection near the Kaiser Medical Center in Oakland.
WHEN: TODAY Monday, Sept. 2
10 a.m.
WHERE: Mosswood Park
3612 Webster St.
Oakland, Calif. 94609
VISUALS: Kaiser Permanente workers will wear their hospital uniforms while drumming, holding handwritten signs and carrying an enormous banner (nine feet tall x 30 feet long) that reads: “Corporate Healthcare is Failing Patients.” More than 80 workers will sit down in the street as part of the civil disobedience before being removed by police.