{"id":334353,"date":"2025-12-07T03:59:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T03:59:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/334353\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T03:59:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T03:59:18","slug":"kaiser-workers-rally-as-contact-negotiations-continue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/334353\/","title":{"rendered":"Kaiser workers rally as contact negotiations continue"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"COURTESY<\/p>\n

COURTESY UNITE HERE LOCAL 5<\/p>\n

Dozens of unionized Kaiser Permanente workers rally today in front of the Mapunapuna campus to call for a fair contract.<\/p>\n

Dozens of unionized Kaiser Permanente workers rallied this morning in front of the Mapunapuna campus to call for a fair contract as negotiations remained stuck over wage increases.<\/p>\n

Rallies were also scheduled at Kaiser Moanalua, at Kaiser Maui Lani and Wailuku, and at Kaiser Kona on Hawaii island this evening.<\/p>\n

The rallies come about six weeks after the conclusion of a 5-day strike<\/a> that took place across Hawaii in mid-October.<\/p>\n

Negotiations for a new contract for roughly 2,300 workers, which expired Sept. 30, have made little progress following the strike, according to Unite Here Local 5, which has since launched its own campaign at KaiserDoBetter.org. Local 5 represents nurse aides, lab technicians, medical assistants, and housekeeping staff, among others.<\/p>\n

Negotiations have been ongoing locally since April, and nationally since May.<\/p>\n

\u201cKaiser can do better; for its workers, our members and our community,\u201d Cade Watanabe, Local 5 financial secretary-treasurer, said in a statement. \u201cFor months we have shown our commitment to getting a deal done, but we cannot accept a deal that devalues Hawaii\u2019s front-line healthcare workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don’t miss out on what’s happening!<\/p>\n

Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It’s FREE!<\/p>\n

The union says key issues include wages that match the cost of living in Hawaii, along with wage parity, as Hawaii workers are paid up to 25% less than their counterparts in southern California. Additionally, workers here want longevity pay and more say in staffing issues.<\/p>\n

Kaiser, which continues operations as normal, is at the same time negotiating with the Alliance of Health Care Unions, which includes Local 5, to reach a new national agreement.<\/p>\n

Kaiser executives said its proposal represents \u201cthe strongest compensation package in Kaiser Permanente\u2019s national bargaining history.\u201d It includes a 21.5% wage increase over the next four years, Kaiser said, with 16% of it in the first two years and step increases and local adjustments factored in.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith step increases and local adjustments factored in, the total average increase we are offering is approximately 30% over four years,\u201d Kaiser officials said in a statement. \u201cBut it\u2019s not just about wages. We\u2019ve strengthened our total compensation package with enhancements to the already robust medical and retiree benefits employees currently enjoy, increased investment in education funds, and programs that support employees in growing their professional development.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaiser added, \u201cWe remain focused on reaching an agreement, that supports our employees well-being and allows us to continue providing high-quality health care that is affordable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaiser and the Alliance are scheduled for a 12th bargaining session next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"COURTESY UNITE HERE LOCAL 5 Dozens of unionized Kaiser Permanente workers rally today in front of the Mapunapuna…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334354,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[28,97,252,253],"class_list":{"0":"post-334353","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-health-care","11":"tag-healthcare"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}