Colorado Kaiser Permanente health care workers affiliated with the local chapter of the Service Employees International Union have reached a with the health care company, according to a statement posted Thursday on the union website.
The agreement includes a 21% raise for unionized workers over the next four years, enhanced protection from job outsourcing, and a minimum wage increase to $23 per hour by June 2026. New hires and transfers would also be required to commit to their positions for one year to 鈥渞educe internal churn and get to outside hiring faster,鈥� according to the union statement, and the agreement would create provisions for 鈥渕ass hiring events鈥� as well as invest $100 million in a program to train future health care workers.
鈥淭ogether, we have achieved a milestone that will positively impact the lives of healthcare workers across Colorado for years to come,鈥� the union website post reads.
馃毃 We have reached a TENTATIVE AGREEMENT with Kaiser that includes 21% wage increases for healthcare workers and strong outsourcing protections.
— SEIU Local 105 (@SEIU105)
馃挭 We were able to come to this agreement because of our united strength and our willingness to fight for the safety of our patients.
A Kaiser Permanente post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Friday morning confirmed the tentative agreement.
鈥淲e are excited to have reached a tentative agreement with the frontline health care workers,鈥� the post said, citing the union and thanking U.S. Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su for her help in the process.
We are excited to have reached a tentative agreement with the frontline health care workers of the this morning. We are thankful for the instrumental involvement of Acting U.S. Labor Secretary .
— Kaiser Permanente (@aboutKP)
A full announcement will follow shortly.
Kaiser did not have a press release available on the company website as of Friday morning and said on social media that a "full announcement will follow shortly."
Thousands of unionized Kaiser Permanente health care workers in Colorado and across the country went on strike in early October, demanding better pay and more staffing. The strikers include nurses, home health aides, ultrasound sonographers and administrative staff, as well as technicians in radiology, X-ray, surgical, pharmacy and emergency departments.
The unions representing Kaiser workers originally asked for a $25 hourly minimum wage, as well as increases of 6.5% each year in the first two years and 5.75% each year in the two years afterward鈥揳ll slightly higher asks than what has been negotiated in the tentative agreement announced this week.
The Kaiser workers鈥� last contract was negotiated in 2019, before the pandemic.
At a Kaiser strike outside Kaiser offices in Longmont, Colorado, on October 4, Kaiser medical assistant Justice Wilson said she had seen the impacts of understaffing and insufficient pay impact local patients.
鈥淚t's taking a week or two weeks or six weeks, really, to get people in to see their providers for rashes and sickness and stubbed toes and medications,鈥� Wilson said. 鈥淲e're setting up follow-up care six weeks out because we just don't have the staff to get people in, in a reasonable amount of time.鈥�
Agreement measures are still pending ratification. The union recommends 鈥渁n immediate YES vote.鈥� A on October 17 will offer further updates on the tentative agreement and ratification vote details, according to the union.
Strikers in Colorado suggested in early October that more union-led strikes were possible in the future if they were unable to reach an agreement with Kaiser soon.
