Kaiser Permanente workers in Colorado walk out over wages, understaffing concerns amid bargaining

Addressing burnout and understaffing issues were also at the center of talks, according to SEIU Local 105. Many departments have been running short-staffed since before the pandemic, said Stephanie Felix-Sowy, the Colorado chapter’s president. 

“I would say the frustration for frontline health care workers is different than in the past,” she said. “Coming out of a global pandemic and record inflation, things need to change and Kaiser has not addressed that.”

Kaiser acknowledged that a national healthcare worker shortage had hurt its operations, but said it had successfully hired more than 50,000 frontline employees nationally over the past two years, including nearly 10,000 union jobs this year. 

Despite that, union membership has fallen overall in recent years due to an exodus of burned-out workers and people transferring departments, Felix-Sowy said. 

“We don’t know how many of those hires have been specifically in Colorado,” Felix-Sowy said. “We don’t have a breakdown of what positions they are.”

Strikers on the picket line Wednesday said they felt frustrated about burnout and a lack of fair compensation. 

Azua, the 62-year-old patient transporter, started her job with Kaiser a year and a half ago, wheeling patients throughout the Franklin Medical Offices. When she started her job, she had a colleague who helped split the work. But that person left soon after, and managers haven’t hired a replacement, Azua said. 

“Now it’s just me and it’s hard,” she said. “Sometimes I keep getting called and called and I can’t help because I can’t do the whole building myself.” 

She worries patient care has suffered as a result of staff exhaustion. 

“Everybody is really stressed because it’s the same thing all over,” she said. 

Prior to Wednesday, Kaiser said it would take measures to keep its facilities up and running for patients during the three-day strike. 

Managers reached out directly to patients to reschedule some appointments. In a message to members, Kaiser said its on-call services may experience longer than usual wait times. 

The system also hired contract workers to ensure essential services remained open for members. Pharmacies, flu and COVID-19 vaccine clinics remained ongoing. 

Outside of the Franklin Medical Office in Denver on Wednesday, many patients crossed the picket line for appointments. Aurora resident John-Claude Futrell had a follow-up surgery appointment for his ruptured achilles that he couldn’t miss. 

As he wheeled his way into the clinic, he looked at the picket line and said he’d been happy with his level of care at Kaiser. 

“We have to take care of those that take care of us,” Futrell said. “These are people that take care of us, and if we’re not taking care of them, then who are we?”