Strike at Kaiser Permanente Looms, UAW Strikes Spread

The month is young but it could fast turn into another Striketober. Strikes in at least three major industries are brewing across the country:

• If a labor deal isn't met, a three-day strike of more than 75,000 workers at Kaiser Permanente could start Oct. 4 and result in the nation's largest health care strike in history.
• The United Auto Workers (UAW) announced new strikes at Ford Motor and General Motors (GM) Sept. 29.
• The ongoing Hollywood actors' strike.

In addition, pharmacists who aren't in a union recently walked out at CVS stores in the Kansas City area, but the walkouts there have ended.

We've gathered articles on the news from SHRM Online and other media outlets.

Dozens of Kaiser Permanente Facilities Would Be Affected

If the coalition of unions at Kaiser Permanente strike, dozens of facilities would be affected in California; Colorado; Oregon; Virginia; Washington state; and Washington, D.C. The strike would include nurses, therapists, technicians, dietary services, maintenance and janitorial staff. Contingency plans are in place to continue to provide care to patients during a strike, Kaiser said. Workers say the health care company is disregarding the staffing crisis. Kaiser says this is false.

"Every health provider in the nation has been facing staffing shortages and fighting burnout," the company said in a statement. "During the Great Resignation in 2021-2022, more than 5 million people left their health care jobs across the country. Up to two-thirds of health care staff are saying they are burnt out and more than one in five are quitting. Kaiser Permanente is not immune from these challenges." A third of strikes of 1,000 or more workers from the start of 2022 through August of this year were in the health care industry, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

(CNN)

Health Care Strike's Possible Effects

Patients would be likely to see longer wait times and a reduced availability of outpatient services should the strike occur, according to John August, a former health care union organizer who is now a program director at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations in the metropolitan New York City area. In the event of a strike, patients would probably still be able to see doctors and nurses, he said, but there could be problems with such services as pharmacy and lab work.

(The Washington Post)

Additional Ford and GM Plant Workers Strike

The additional UAW strikes on Sept. 29 began at Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant and GM's Lansing Delta Township plant in Michigan and involved 7,000 more workers. Stellantis, which owns Chrysler, was spared from additional strikes then because of progress on the cost-of-living allowance, the right not to cross a picket line, and the right to strike over plant closures and outsourcing moratoriums, said UAW President Shawn Fain.

(CNBC and USA Today)

UAW Strike Began on Limited Basis

The strike against GM, Ford and Stellantis began Sept. 15 on a limited basis at three Midwest auto plants after the automakers and the UAW failed to reach a deal on a new four-year contract. The strike against GM and Stellantis was expanded Sept. 22 to all 38 parts distribution centers at the two companies. At that point, Ford was spared from expanded strikes due to progress in negotiations with the company.

(SHRM Online and SHRM Online)

Talks Resume to Reach Agreement in Actors' Strike

Hollywood studio executives were back at the negotiating table with the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) on Oct. 2. Their attendance raised hopes that the parties can quickly reach a deal, but the SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee asked its members not to let up.

(The Hollywood Reporter)

CVS Pharmacy Walkouts Have Ended

After walkouts by pharmacists forced CVS Pharmacy stores in the Kansas City area to shut down, the company promised changes, ending the dispute. CVS Executive Vice President Prem Shah, the company's chief pharmacy officer, apologized to employees in an internal memo that the pharmacy team hadn't addressed staffing concerns in the region sooner. Additional staffing and paid overtime were among the promised changes.

(USA Today)