Thousands of health care workers rally outside LA Kaiser facility for better pay, more staffing
Meanwhile, police said 23 people were arrested for failure to disperse. They were all cited and later released.
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Thousands of Los Angeles health care workers held a large Labor Day rally to draw attention to some of their top concerns, including long patient wait times and staffing issues.
The rally was held outside of Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center as the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions is negotiating a new contract with the health care organization to replace the one that will expire Sept. 30.
"The workers are calling on Kaiser to raise wages to keep up with the cost of living so we can keep the quality, skilled staff that we already have and to attract new people to join this workforce," said Nathan Selzer, the communications director for SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West. "Kaiser keeps on saying, 'There's a shortage. There's a shortage.' Yes, but you have the resources and frankly, you should have the leadership to step up and solve this problem."
Kaiser Permanente issued a lengthy statement Friday on the negotiations, saying, "We hired over 29,000 new employees in 2022 and are on pace to exceed that substantially in 2023, despite the pandemic-driven labor shortage happening across health care.''
"We believe this is because talented people recognize the value of our current wage and benefit offerings and want to work at Kaiser Permanente,'' the statement said. "About 96% of candidates for coalition-represented positions accept our employment offers -- significantly above the industry average.''
During Monday's march, an unlawful assembly was declared by police but the majority of people ended up moving out. Police said 23 people were arrested, cited and later released without incident.
City News Service, Inc. contributed to this report.
