TITLE
WITHDRAWN
Recommendation to request City Attorney to draft a resolution in support of a new contract negotiated between the Alliance of Health Care Unions and Kaiser Permanente.
DISCUSSION
BACKGROUND:
Since March of 2020, Kaiser Permanente and its union workforce have worked tirelessly to protect the public and care for the sick during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Local healthcare workers have suffered trauma, grief, and exhaustion in this continuing fight, which has resulted in a record number of retirements and resignations since the start of the pandemic. Employers across the industry are desperately searching for enough healthcare workers to provide safe care; staff shortages threaten the safety of employees and patients alike.
Kaiser Permanente and its labor unions have long set a nationally recognized model for high employment standards, business success, and quality care through a labor-management partnership. However, stalled negotiations between Kaiser Permanente and the Alliance of Health Care Unions have resulted in members of Long Beach’s healthcare workforce planning to strike, beginning November 15, 2021. The impact of these negotiations will have a profound impact on the city’s COVID-19 response, patient wait times, and our healthcare workforce at large. Further, the expected winter surge of COVID-19 necessitates a rapid solution to this conflict.
An agreement which provides fair wages, rectifies existing wage structures, and finalizes new contracts would bolster Long Beach’s economy, empower our healthcare workforce, and benefit the patients who depend upon these services.
STATEMENT OF URGENCY:
Due to the impending strike and the immediate effects it may have, this item is urgent in nature.
FISCAL IMPACT
No Financial Management review was able to be conducted due to time sensitivity.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
Respectfully Submitted,
AL AUSTIN
COUNCILMAN, EIGHTH DISTRICT
MARY ZENDEJAS
COUNCILWOMAN, FIRST DISTRICT
D...
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