Kaiser Permanente Employees Join United Nurses Associations of California for a Voice in Patient Care

March 13, 2007

Nearly 800 Kaiser Permanente nurses, who work at some 200 locations throughout Southern California, have just gained a powerful voice on the job with AFSCME affiliate United Nurses Associations of California (UNAC)/UHCP/NUHHCE.

The employees – including certified nurse midwives, case managers, discharge planners and nurse educators – joined 10,000 other Kaiser Permanente nurses who have become UNAC members since the 1970s.

A process called “majority sign-up,” also known as “card check,” allowed the nurses to gain recognition of their union once a majority had signed cards indicating they wanted one. It was the same system employed during Kaiser organizing drives since 1997, and comes on the heels of passage of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill would level the playing field between private-sector workers and their employers during efforts to build a union.

Kaiser’s management agreed to remain neutral during the nurses’ campaign to organize. Scott Bryant, RN, a discharge planner at Kaiser Permanente South Bay, says that proved important to their success. “If we were in a hostile setting,” he explains, “it would have been very stressful.”

“I’m overjoyed,” says Frank Schubert, RN, who works in centralized outpatient utilization management. “The union will help us have a voice to be more effective patient advocates.”

“Now that 800 more nurses at Kaiser Permanente have joined UNAC/UHCP, the voices of health care professionals are even stronger and we can have an even bigger role in helping Kaiser Permanente be the best place to get care and to work,” adds Kathy J. Sackman, RN, UNAC/UHCP president and an International vice president.