75,000 Kaiser Permanente Workers , Begin Largest Health Care Strike in US.<br />The three-day strike began <br />on Oct. 4, 'The Guardian' reports.<br />The workers are seeking new union contracts since their current ones lapsed on Oct. 1.<br />They want better wages <br />and staffing, 'The Guardian' reports.<br />Kaiser Permanente locations in California, Colorado, D.C., Oregon, Virginia and Washington have been affected.<br />Unions cited the health care provider's <br />$3 billion profit in the first half of the year.<br />They also pointed to <br />executives' excessive salaries.<br />Record profits should mean record <br />contracts that invest in workers <br />and the patients we serve, Dawn Martin, a medical assistant in <br />Battle Ground, Washington, via statement.<br />Kaiser executives are refusing to listen to <br />frontline healthcare workers like me and are <br />bargaining in bad faith over the solutions we <br />need to end the Kaiser short-staffing crisis, Dawn Martin, a medical assistant in <br />Battle Ground, Washington, via statement.<br />The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions <br />said that over the summer, the health care provider said that its workers "make too much money" <br />while its CEO is paid $16 million per year.<br />Workers across race and background are <br />taking on Kaiser, saying it’s time to bargain <br />in good faith and respect us, protect us and <br />pay us the living wages we need to thrive. , Mary Kay Henry, international president of the Service <br />Employees International Union (SEIU), via statement.<br />They’re demanding what’s necessary for patients to get the quality care they need and deserve, Mary Kay Henry, international president of the Service <br />Employees International Union (SEIU), via statement.<br />They are burnt out, scared for their <br />patients and fed up. It’s time for Kaiser <br />to act with the urgency this staffing <br />crisis demands and to settle a fair contract <br />that includes long-term solutions to the <br />crisis like livable wages and benefits, Mary Kay Henry, international president of the Service <br />Employees International Union (SEIU), via statement
