On Thursday, August 7, our members filled downtown Portland to demonstrate unity and strength in the fight for justice at Kaiser. The rally featured speakers from across our union and other locals in the Alliance of Healthcare Unions, along with political leaders such as Representatives Travis Nelson and Rob Nosse, and labor leaders including Oregon AFL-CIO President Graham Trainor and Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) President Angela Bonilla. The event closed with powerful speeches from OFNHP President Sarina Roher and AFT National President Randi Weingarten.
“Kaiser is an organization that says that it values families and values the relationship that workers have with their families, and they say they want you to have work-life balance, but they do not respect that at the bargaining table,” said Representative Nelson, who is himself a union nurse and organizer.
“I support you all. I know there are many members of the state legislature that are behind you, and if there's anything, and I mean anything that I can do to support all of you in your fight for a fair contract.”
This rally capped off a contentious but productive week of national bargaining, where representatives for the 60,000 members of the Alliance came together to tackle our key priorities. We opened bargaining by directly confronting Kaiser’s reversal of an agreement on successorship language made with the Northwest team. This reversal raised serious concerns about whether Kaiser plans to sell—or even remain in the region in the coming years—so Alliance Executive Director Hal Ruddick addressed it head-on, while OFNHP members and other union members stood holding signs demanding that Kaiser honor their commitments.
The Thursday rally followed a full week of action, including “walk-ins” at worksites to energize members, a massive “red up” on Tuesday with union colors worn across all facilities, and Wednesday flyering to engage community members and patients in supporting our cause.
We did this by directing them to a community petition, which we are now directing all of our allies to add their names to, demanding that Kaiser honor their agreements.
On Thursday, we saw unprecedented member participation, with a sea of red filling Terry Schrunk Plaza. President Roher made it clear how we can take on Kaiser’s unserious proposals and lack of authority at the bargaining table: by building worker power.
"We are out here because Kaiser is not listening," said President Roher against a sea of chants. "Kaiser doesn't seem to understand that, because what they are offering are wages that don't even come close to keeping up with the cost of living. And then, without rhyme or reason, they retracted an agreement that provides union security."
She then pointed to Kaiser’s reversal of an agreement made during negotiations—an alarming move that could signal plans to sell part, or even all, of its Northwest health system. Such a sale could dramatically impact patient care and the careers of healthcare professionals. Will you still be able to see your doctor? Keep your insurance? What will happen to the care we rely on? These are the urgent questions Kaiser must answer—and they must commit to remaining a stable institution dedicated to keeping our community healthy.
President Weingarten closed the rally with a powerful reminder of who our allies are and what it takes to fight for a better future for patient care.
“The work you do, the care you give, doesn’t seem to matter to them,” she said, reflecting on where Kaiser executives had been during negotiations. “And that means—and this is hard, my friends—this is why I wanted to be here tonight, not just on the first day of a strike. It means they deeply do not respect who we are and what we do. Your patients respect it, your community respects it, your union respects it—but they don’t.”
She reminded us that our unity is the force that can change that dynamic, make Kaiser listen, and win a fair contract that supports healthcare stability in Portland and across the country.
Our members have returned to the local bargaining tables, and you can sign up as an observer to show Kaiser that our teams have the full backing of all of us. You can also encourage community members to add their name to our community petition demanding accountability from Kaiser. National bargaining will resume at the beginning of next month, and in the meantime we’ll be connecting with all of our Kaiser members about our next steps to escalate the campaign. We will not stop until we address the unfair wage proposals and other issues necessary to halt the erosion of our jobs and secure a future that puts patients and healthcare professionals above profits.