UNAC/UHCP is part of an alliance of health care unions negotiating with Kaiser for a new set of national and local contracts. In October, about 61,000 members of the alliance staged a five-day, multi-state strike to demand wage and staffing increases.
Talks resumed after the walkout, but they broke down in mid-December when Kaiser negotiators accused UNAC/UHCP leaders of not bargaining in good faith.
In a statement issued on YouTube, chief human resources officer Greg Holmes said a union official threatened to release “evidence of illegal, unethical and reputationally damaging information about Kaiser Permanente” unless both sides reached an acceptable agreement.
Kaiser workers strike in front of a sign at the Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center in Oakland on Oct. 2, 2023 (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)
Kaiser proposed moving forward with contract negotiations at a local level with other unions in the alliance — a move that prompted UNAC/UHCP to file an unfair labor practice charge at the National Labor Relations Board.
The union accused Kaiser of trying to bypass the agreed-upon national bargaining process.
On Thursday, it posted a report online alleging that the Kaiser Permanente Group Trust, which manages pension funds for employees, invested in CoreCivic and the GEO Group, private prison companies that run detention centers for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.