Striking for Justice and Patient Care!

Please donate to this strike hardship fund for the mental health therapists in the Kaiser Redwood City & San Mateo clinics!

We belong to the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), and we are on an open-ended strike because patients continue to endure dangerously long waits for mental health and substance use treatment appointments.

We have negotiated at the bargaining table, reached out to all levels of Kaiser leadership/management, filed grievances with the Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) and other regulatory agencies, and worked to help pass mental health and substance use treatment parity legislation in California. Yet, our patients are still being denied medically necessary care. Striking is always a last resort, but the status quo is unacceptable for our patients; we can't allow them to keep suffering.

Your donations will help alleviate the financial burden for therapists most impacted by losing pay, lowering barriers to strike participation and making our strike as united and successful as possible! Remember that success is better care for our patients, the members of your community.

Please remember that your donation is not tax-deductible.

Interested in more? Read below

What is a Strike Fund?

Losing pay during a strike is a hardship for everyone, but it disproportionately impacts employees in the lower salary ranges or with more significant life expenses. A strike fund can be used to alleviate the financial burden for those who are most affected, lowering barriers to them participating in the strike and making it as united and successful as possible.

Please note donations are not tax-deductible.

How will the funds be used?

Over the last several contracts, our union has had to strike to advocate for a fair contract. While we never want to have to get to this point, it is clear our time-limited strikes have not been enough to make the more remarkable systemic change we wish to pursue. We know that an open-ended strike may be the only option to fight for a fair contract, ethical and high-quality patient care, and sustainable working conditions. We know our community’s mental health is on the line, and we are ready to stand up for it! To sustain our endurance in this extended action, we need our community’s enthusiastic support in all ways. One of the most needed is in the form of monetary funds. Funds will go directly to National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) strike participants to manage hardship throughout the open-ended strike. They will first go to Redwood City and San Mateo NUHW members, then be made available to the general membership. If funds are not used for any reason, they will be saved for future strike funds.

Why is our Strike Important?

After a year of negotiations for the contract ending in September of 2021, Redwood City and San Mateo NUHW members are joining our Kaiser Permanente Northern California NUHW comrades in an OPEN-ENDED strike. Our goal in striking is to fundamentally change our relationship with Kaiser management so that Kaiser treats behavioral health care on equal footing with its other services. To accomplish this goal, we must demonstrate the depth of our commitment, not only by honoring the strike but by participating on the picket line. Strong participation shows Kaiser and the general public that we are united and determined to achieve our goals.

After more than a decade of pushing Kaiser to remedy its disparity between mental and physical health care, we’ve reached a point where our best path to victory is through an open-ended strike. With growing support from elected leaders, state regulators and mental health advocates, we have more power than ever to make Kaiser change its approach to behavioral health care.

Kaiser's mental health system violates mental health providers' ethical and legal commitments. National Union of Healthcare Workers data demonstrates that 377 clinicians based in Northern California left their jobs at Kaiser between June 2021 and May 2022. More than twice as many as the year prior, when 186 clinicians quit their jobs, and 191 clinicians in 2019-2020. Clinicians cite unsustainable workload factors and the inability to “treat patients in line with standards of care and medical necessity” as reasons for departure from the company.

Kaiser's refusal to invest in mental health services has been exacerbated by the pandemic but has been a long-term issue. The average therapist caseload has gone up 13 percent-contributing to one-in-five clinicians having left Kaiser over the past two years. Patients often have to wait six weeks and up to a few months for a return appointment across Northern California. It is unhealthy, unethical and now illegal with Senate Bill 221, effective July 1, 2022, which requires follow-up appointments within ten days.

Similarly, Kaiser continues to offer mental health services as a selling point for its insurance purchasers. However, it has a small percentage of the capacity to provide what it promises to its members. According to SB 855, effective in January 2021, health insurance companies are responsible for providing full coverage for all mental health conditions.

NUHW is advocating for:

Even though Kaiser posted an $8.1 billion net profit last year and has $54 billion in cash and investments, it’s clear that Kaiser will not make the significant changes we need to see without a strike. Over the past year, it has bargained with a complete lack of urgency to reach an agreement and a complete lack of initiative to tackle the central issues.

https://nuhw.org/kaiser-dont-deny/kaiser-strike/