Unions representing more than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers on Friday announced a tentative contract agreement, likely averting a threatened repeat of the largest walkout by health care workers in U.S. history. 'The frontline health care workers of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions are excited to have reached a tentative agreement with Kaiser Permanente. We are thankful for the instrumental support of Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su,' the coalition tweeted.
Kaiser employees including nurses, lab technicians and pharmacists staged a three-day walkout that concluded last weekend in five states and the nation's capital, with the coalition threatening a longer walkout ahead should negotiations not yield an agreement.The dispute involved worker complaints of chronic understaffing, a problem that the managed care giant pinned on an industrywide shortage of workers.Oakland-based Kaiser did not immediately respond to a request for comment.