SEIU-UHW Members Reach Tentative Agreement with Raises, Full Retention of All Benefits Including Healthcare
OAKLAND - Concluding months of bargaining for a new national agreement covering 96,000 union members at Kaiser Permanente, the Service Employees International Union - United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW)'s 121-member bargaining team announced a tentative agreement on a new two-year contract that upholds high standards at the nation's largest not-for-profit healthcare provider. The tentative agreement, reached this morning, provides for 3% raises in each year of the agreement, maintains all existing healthcare benefits and protects job security.
"Today's agreement is a remarkable achievement in a tough economy," said Dave Regan, SEIU-UHW trustee. "It recognizes the contribution caregivers make to quality patient care."
SEIU-UHW members, who at almost 48,000, make up half of the 96,000 union members in the 32 unions in the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, will review the tentative agreement and vote to accept or reject it in June before it becomes final. The current agreement expires in October 2010.
"With this agreement, Kaiser continues to set the standard - whether in providing quality healthcare to the community or offering pay and benefits that keep experienced staff and define Kaiser as one of the best employers anywhere," said Larry Coleman, a nuclear medicine technologist at Kaiser Roseville Medical Center and a bargaining committee member.
Entering negotiations, Kaiser sought takeaways on employee healthcare benefits. Earlier this year managers and non-union employees were required to pay increased deductibles and fees for health insurance. But with Kaiser's fiscal health improving and enrollment growing, SEIU-UHW members united across the state to ensure that all their benefits would be maintained.
During the months of national bargaining, thousands of SEIU-UHW members at Kaiser hospitals and clinics across the state held rallies and pickets in support of the 2010 bargaining goals: win raises for all members, maintain all benefits including healthcare, and lock-in long-term job security.
Contact: Adriana Surfas, 510-846-2246
SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West (SEIU-UHW) is the largest hospital and healthcare union in the western United States with more than 150,000 members. We unite every type of healthcare worker with a mission to achieve high-quality healthcare for all. SEIU-UHW is part of the 2.2 million-member Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the nation's fastest-growing union. Learn more at www.seiu-uhw.org.