Below is the letter sent to Kaiser leadership accompanying our grievances demanding action to ensure contract implementation goes appropriately.
Art,
The class action grievances being filed on behalf of all Kaiser Permanente Northwest RNs (OFNHP + ONA) should come as no surprise.
For months, nurses have consistently raised concerns regarding the lack of implementation, inconsistent interpretation, and ongoing administration of the newly ratified collective bargaining agreement. Rather than seeing a coordinated effort to resolve these issues, we have repeatedly watched responsibility for contract implementation be deferred to other departments, individual leaders, HR, Labor Relations, or operational workgroups.
At some point, accountability must rest where the authority exists.
As the Chief Nurse Executive, implementation of the agreement affecting the nursing workforce is ultimately a nursing leadership issue. The contract cannot continue to be treated as someone else’s responsibility. Nurses should not have to navigate shifting interpretations, inconsistent application across medical centers, or repeated delays in provisions that were negotiated, agreed to, and ratified.
If Kaiser Permanente Northwest is committed to the Magnet journey, contract implementation cannot be separated from that commitment. Magnet emphasizes structural empowerment, professional governance, leadership accountability, psychological safety, and an environment where nurses are respected as professional partners. Those principles are difficult to reconcile with an organization that has yet to consistently implement the very agreement reached with its largest professional nursing workforce.
These grievances are not simply about individual contract provisions. It reflects a growing loss of confidence that commitments made to nurses will be honored without persistent escalation. That is not sustainable, nor is it consistent with the culture Kaiser says it is striving to build.
We are demanding you, not HR, not Labor Relations, not another committee, to personally lead the effort to bring contract implementation to completion. That includes establishing clear accountability, consistent interpretations across the region, meaningful timelines, and transparent communication regarding outstanding obligations.
Our nurses have fulfilled their commitments every day by continuing to provide exceptional patient care. It is time for Kaiser leadership to fulfill theirs.
In Unity,
RN and ONA BU leadership