Kaiser Workers Win Historic Contract

After months of local and national negotiations, Local 535 Kaiser employees made health care history last month with the approval of a new contract that, rank and file negotiators say, will have positive reverberations throughout the country. All five Local 535-represented bargaining units enthusiastically voted to approve the five-year contract that gives all workers 4-6% wage increases in each year of the contract, a first for the Kaiser/SEIU partnership and its interest-based bargaining process.

In addition to the raises, Kaiser employees will receive equity adjustments ranging from .75% to 1.75%. In the last three years of the agreement, employees may also be eligible for raises of 1% to 3% based on improvement in quality, service, and financial performance. Improvements in health benefits also include three-month prescriptions with a single co-payment, expansion of dependent coverage to include domestic partners and unmarried children up to the age of 25, and direct union participation in health plan benefit designs.
The agreement also includes an improved pension multiplier for Northern California units, an improved early retirement option for all Local 535 members, and a pre-retirement survivor benefit to be expanded to include domestic partners and qualified dependents. In addition, there will be union representation on the Kaiser Board of Directors Pension Investment Committee. A joint defined-benefit contribution study will be conducted to determine the best way to structure the pension plans.

Most importantly, the contract establishes, for the first time, a real worker voice in staffing decisions through joint staffing and patient safety committees. The committees will develop staffing plans at regional, service area, facility, and unit levels. The plans contain mutually acceptable numbers, mixes, and qualifications of staff in each work unit. The new agreement includes an issue resolution and corrective action approach to improve performance and to improve patient care.

A joint labor-management committee will be established to improvework performance and workforce development, recruitment and retention efforts, and regional education and training structures. Partnership teams will be developed to create an environment that promotes the safety and health of employees, and will work on patient handling, blood work pathogens, workplace violence, chemical exposure, and facility cleanliness.
Union negotiators say the agreement represents a dramatic change from the past.

In 1997 the unions of the AFL-CIO and Kaiser Permanente entered into a national labor management partnership agreement. This agreement paved the way for employees and unions to be involved in organizational decision-making at all levels. The partnership is designed to improve the quality of health care, make Kaiser a better place to work, enhance Kaiser’s competitive performance, provide workers with employment and income security, and expand Kaiser’s membership.
Subsequent to the partnership agreement, management and the coalition agreed to negotiate a national collective bargaining agreement using the interest-based process. This involved front-line employees, union leaders, and managers from every level across the country in seven bargaining task groups that addressed topics such as wages, benefits, work/life balance, quality of service, health and safety, and workforce development.

“Both sides had serious apprehensions, but as we went along and identified our separate interests, both sides came to trust each other and were resolved to keep the momentum going until we achieved this agreement,” says George Daniels, Local 535 southern staff director.
“Had it not been for the partnership, this first contract would not have been possible,” adds David Kramer, Local 535 executive director.

“This is a most exciting step and an example of what is possible when we work together,” notes Marti Batchhelder, Kaiser, San Diego.

“They brought in the decision makers, who had the authority to say yes or no. That was critical in getting things done,” says Rhonda Goode, RN, Kaiser Sunset.

“Kaiser put their books on the table. If you know how much is in the checkbook, you know how much you can spend. It was all up front,” says Preston Lasley, Kaiser Optical Worker.

Labor-management committees will be established to promote the well-being of employees and help them balance work and personal life through supportive time-off policies, health promotion programs, employee assistance programs, and referral agencies. There is an agreement that Kaiser will support the partnership by granting time off to employees for union business and work with unions to reaffirm the partnership principle against contracting out.

“This took an enormous amount of work, and the potential for problems is always huge. But if it works, the benefits in terms of employee morale and improved care delivered are huge,” says Priscilla Kania.
“This document gives us a jumping off point. Now the real work starts,” adds Bob McCloskey, Local 535 senior field representative.
“This is no panacea. We have to be vigilant about what the contract says, and Local 535 members have to be trained in the contract and involved in its application.”

“Congratulations and special thanks to southern regional director George Daniels and southern vice president Rhonda Goode for the many hours they spent in national negotiations,” adds Kramer.
Participating with Daniels and Goode were Local 535 members Bob Fernbach, LaNeta Fitzhugh, Emmy Garnica, Joyce Haynes, Priscilla Kania, Preston Lasley, Susan Lehman, William Novak, Clem Papazian, Paulette Rogers, Edy Stumpf, and Leila Valdivia, and Local 535 staff John Bowers, Don Evans, John Garfield, Stewart Kocivar, Jon Lepie, Bob McCloskey, and Andrea Zanetti.