October 8th
Since we issued our strike notice last Friday, your Pro Bargaining Team has been ready and willing to meet. Management finally made time for us this afternoon, but they showed up unwilling to engage meaningfully on the issues that matter most.
We continue to fight for you on these key issues:
- Holiday Pay & Grievances: We’re pushing for clarity and resolution on class action grievances. Management refuses to settle, yet wants us to accept their proposed language.
- Wage Equality: We are demanding fair market adjustments, updated differentials, and access to all 13 wage steps for every single Pro. Their proposals fall far below industry standards for the Portland-Metro region and divide our unit by selectively offering increases.
- Patient Safety and Clinician Schedules: We’ve passed proposals -- developed in Partnership -- to ensure safe staffing and fair compensation for all hours worked. Management continues to gut these proposals, claiming no business interest.
- Primary Care PA/NP Equity: We’re advocating for fair paneling incentives and adequate time to provide the care our patients deserve. Management thinks money alone solves burnout and continues to ignore the need for time and support.
Bottom line: We came prepared to work toward solutions—management did not. They continue to say we are “far apart,” yet offer no real paths forward. If this stonewalling continues, we’ll see you on the strike lines next Tuesday.
Your Bargaining Team will have copies of all Tentative Agreements and the final two packages exchanged with Management. Keep wearing red to show solidarity, and if you haven’t yet, sign up for strike shifts here.
Share the strike line information for local family, friends, community members, and non-OFNHP colleagues here.
September 26th
Your Pro Bargaining Team was back at the table again today and still determined to keep fighting for the contract you deserve. Here’s a quick recap, and the invite for our next town hall this Sunday!
Like many days before, we disappointingly only met with management for less than an hour today in total. However, thanks to months of perseverance, we secured two TA’s!
- Bilingual Differential - expanding eligibility to any QBS Level 2 certified clinician to receive compensation for all hours worked if usually providing services in another common language more than 24 hours in a quarter.
- We are excited that this language will bring more equitable and diverse services to our communities, and reward those members who provide such important care.
- Advanced Certification Differential - expanding and memorializing eligibility for any clinician holding an advanced certification and applying these diverse skills while providing patient care.
- Our subgroup worked diligently to build an incredibly expansive list (over 60 certifications!) that truly represents the bargaining unit, and will allow for many new members to receive this differential.
While we’re proud to know we’ve secured real wins for the bargaining unit, we’re frustrated that management continues to refuse to seriously address your main priorities.
-They believe you having a voice in scheduling and templates would cost them too much money – and isn’t beneficial enough to put protecting quality patient care over their profits.
-They believe compensating you for the time you work outside your normal schedule doesn’t align with their business strategy – even though we’ve raised the risk of clinician burnout, poor retention rates, and the detrimental effect it has on your ability to have a respectful work-life balance.
-They believe mid-range market rate wages are only good enough for some of you – and are in denial of the concern we have for recruiting and retaining talented clinicians like you.
There are now only 4 days left until our contract expires and no further local bargaining dates scheduled for your Pro Team. The solidarity you’ve shown to support the team has undoubtedly helped to gain historic wins, but this fight is NOT done yet. We’ve seen the messaging from the employer using cherry-picked statistics, inexact assertions about what our members need, and attempts to question our very reasonable demands – all attempts to try and divide us. Rest assured, we’ll continue to fight until the very last minute for the things you deserve: Fair wages, safe staffing practices, and a real voice in how you provide patient care.
For now, it's time to *RED UP* every day you can to show management you're standing in support until we win a fair contract.
September 19th
Last Friday, your Pro Bargaining Team met with management after they requested to schedule additional bargaining days. From 8 - 9:38AM, management caucused while we waited for them to pass counter proposals for many outstanding issues. We met for less than an hour before they again requested a caucus to work on counters. This was the third full day of bargaining where we have been waiting for management to provide a counter with no actual movement or bargaining. Late in the day management came back and we were able to work through language and finally get 2 long delayed TA's.
- Updating language in Article 13 on PTO and Including PTO accrual in the contract. This was simply documenting current practice, but took far too much time to win.
- Team lead - creating a process for selection, ability to step down, and clear roles and responsibilities. We successfully pushed back on management’s proposal to have term limits and to remove labor from the selection process.
Despite some progress today, the most important issues you want us to address are still outstanding. Last week you all engaged in a strike vote to send a clear message to management that they must come to the table and solve issues. Over 92% of you voted and 97% of you voted "YES" to authorize a strike if necessary. This sends a loud and clear message:
We will strike if management refuses to address the issues you told us were priorities.
1. Additional Duties
Management wants to continue having the ability to force unrealistic workloads that make you come in early, work through lunch, and stay after. They refuse to pay you for that extra time you are required to spend doing the work of Kaiser. Kaiser is stealing on average 4 hours per week from every one of you. You must have protection from excessive workloads, or get paid for this additional work.
- Their answer: Management wants to continue exploiting your exempt status and refusing to pay you for all hours you work.
2. Schedules and Templates
Kaiser claims to be a clinician led organization, but management is refusing to give you a voice in your schedules and templates. You are the provider and expert, and know what is needed to care for your patients. Despite claiming to value partnership, management doesn’t want to use established best practice partnership processes to create schedules and templates that benefit patients.
- Their answer: Management does not want you to have a voice in your work.
3. Market Adjustments
Management believes that ATB’s are enough to recruit and retain high quality staff. They are using inaccurate data that excludes significant portions of our competitors. Management says that because they don't believe we have high turnover, there is no problem with our wages. Real market data shows many Pros are well behind market wages. Over a 4 year contract, if we do not get additional market adjustments, KP will fall further behind and create a crisis in recruiting/retaining necessary clinicians.
- Their answer: Management wants to continue giving you the highest workload in the community, while not paying you even the average wage in the community.
4. Longevity Steps
Management wants to prioritize growth and retention but are refusing to add longevity steps that are needed to keep our top wages competitive in the market and retain long-term employees. We want equity in the bargaining unit where all of us have the same number of longevity steps.
- Their answer: Management does not want to reward and incentivize your long term dedication to KP.
5. Specialty Certifications
Management proposed language to remove protected time for clinical specialists in order to extend specialty certification to more Pros. This is a great way to incentive pursuing training in specialty areas that will benefit KP and our members. However, management is proposing unrealistic requirements that would artificially deny most of you from qualifying.
- Their answer: Management is offering incentives that they are making impossible for you to qualify for.
6. Sick Leave Clarification
Management intends to continue exploiting your exempt status. As an exempt employee you have the right to attend your own and your dependent’s pre-scheduled medical appointments, or if you go home ill, you will be made whole. That means no deduction of sick leave or partial day PTO. The only exception is federal laws around FMLA.
- Their answer: Management is refusing to clarify your exempt status in our contract so scheduling staff can appropriately pay you.
7. Holiday Pay
Management proposed language that labor agrees with to clarify pay when working nights over a holiday period. To TA the language, we demand Kaiser resolve the outstanding class action grievance around incorrect pay over holidays and pay those affected all back wages.
- Their answer: Management refuses to resolve the outstanding grievance using the language they are proposing at the table. They are refusing to pay many of you appropriately for working holidays.
8. Bilingual Qualification
Management wants to continue taking advantage of bilingual providers who they send for qualification but do not create a job posting for. Receiving care in your native language greatly improves quality and outcomes, and is the right thing to do.
- Their answer: Management wants to pick and choose which bilingual providers they will pay a differential.
9. Required Trainings
Management requires we complete annual trainings as conditions of employment. Your bargaining team proposed language to ensure you have the time necessary to complete these trainings, but management refused this common sense proposal.
- Their answer: Management wants you to continue completing your training between patients, over lunches, breaks, and after hours rather than ensuring you are given uninterrupted paid time for this requirement.
There are only eight days left until our contract expires, and Kaiser continues to deny you the contract you deserve.
Remember to *RED UP* on Tuesday and join us at the Info Picket today outside the Longview-Kelso clinic (1230 7th Ave, Longview, WA) from 5-7PM!
Sept. 3rd and 5th
We want to thank all of the patient defenders who have already signed the strike pledge. The support of over 2,500 OFNHP members being shown for the local and national bargaining teams is not only inspiring, but is sending a loud and clear message of solidarity between all OFNHP bargaining units. Continuing to build this strength will be vital to getting you the contract you deserve!
If you haven't signed the pledge click here now to pledge your support!
On Wednesday and Friday this week the Pro bargaining team again showed up to advocate for what you all need: competitive wages, protection from unsustainable workloads, and a strong voice in our schedules and templates.
We also welcomed a fantastic group of observers – on Wednesday we had 8 members join us, and on Friday there were 6. Unfortunately, these folks watched us spend most of our time in caucus waiting for management to come back with proposals. We thank them for their active and meaningful participation in helping us shape our proposals and strategy while waiting for management to do the work!
Although spending the majority of a bargaining day at this stage in the process is incredibly disappointing, your bargaining team refused to give up without something to show for this week – and were able to get four new tentative agreements (TA’s)!
- Language to update our education fund benefit and clarify costs covered, in an effort to decrease erroneous denials for reimbursement.
- Improved workplace safety language, reinforcing the importance of diverse safety tactics to address workers in all settings, and adding language to protect workers from being in an isolated situation with a person who is a potential safety risk. We are very hopeful this is meaningful movement to prevent workplace violence and keep you safe at work.
- Updating language clarifying responsibilities under: orienting new employees, Precepting (that is associated with a financial differential), and teaching students/non-KP employees. We believe this will help ensure those that provide education and training are compensated fairly either financially or with time.
- Codified Urgent Care Premium pay to any Primary Care AC who works a regular or holiday shift in the Urgent Care.
Next week the Chair (Jeremy Gardner) and Vice Chair (Kristen Rohde) will be heading to National Bargaining to escalate our bargaining interests on the national stage. We hope this will create movement on our priorities that still must be addressed and taken seriously by management to avoid further escalation: market adjustments, differentials, and workloads.
At this point, there is only 24 days left before our contract expires. Your bargaining team has done absolutely everything to get the contract you deserve, but see no other path forward at this time besides moving towards a strike authorization vote. We need your support to show management just what we’re willing to do to get a contract that protects our ability to provide safe patient care for the future!
- Click here to add your name to the strike pledge!
- Make your plan to vote “yes” during the strike authorization vote September 15-19!
- Visit https://ofnhp.aft.org/news/get-your-potential-strike-questions-answered if you have any questions about a potential strike, and to find zoom links for upcoming town halls where you can ask questions!
- Join the next upcoming Pro Town Hall on Wednesday September 10th at 7:00PM (link at bottom of the email) to hear specifics about what’s happening at the table, and what you can do to keep up the fight!
In Solidarity,
Your Pro Bargaining Team
Topic: Pro Town Hall
Time: Sep 10, 2025 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://aft.zoom.us/j/93221285501?pwd=c7lGiF57tvLMEkn40lz7G9GOi3URiN.1
Meeting ID: 932 2128 5501
Passcode: OFNHP
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July 30th
After a four week hiatus due to unforeseen issues with our HR representative, your Pro Bargaining Team was finally back at the table yesterday. Despite management PTO, an HR shuffle, and a National HR walk-back of a tentative agreement (TA) from the Common Interests Table, we had a very productive day.
Before we get into exciting updates from the table, have you made your worksite plans for the “Week of Action” next week?? Click here to get more details on each day and exactly how you can be part of our efforts to show Kaiser just how united, informed, and powerful we really are! Don’t forget to RSVP for our August 7th Rally here as we come together while National Bargaining happens all week just down the street – and we’ll be standing up to support the fight! And don't forget to sign the letter to Greg Adams, CEO demanding he keep his promises at the bargaining table, and protect the future of Kaiser Permanente!
Ok, back to business: yesterday we signed our first TA in four months! But as true professionals – we didn’t just sign one, we signed three:
- One adding virtual conversion options into the contract for applicable types of patient care,
- Allowing clinicians to continue to provide patient care when something rare and unexpected happens that prevents usual in-person attendance,
- One allowing internal shuffling of coded employees within a workgroup prior to a position being posted,
- Clarifying the process when a vacancy occurs and assisting in protecting current bargaining unit employees’ experience and seniority rights,
- And one which updates our on-call language with the goal of more flexible backfill and appropriate staffing.
- Clarifying the process for on-calls to have the option of becoming coded employees when a consistent pattern of use exists.
For the Primary Care and Urgent Care ACs, management responded to our contract clean up proposal, so we created a sub-committee to work on this language. We feel that we are close to a tentative agreement that can clarify how we are assigned mandatory shifts, backup and standby shifts, and would allow for volunteers to take precedence for holiday coverage. This committee has also been tasked with finding mutually agreeable language for the Primary Care Panel Incentive.
Finally, we spent some time discussing some of your main interests: being paid for all of the time you work outside of your base schedule each day and getting time set aside for regionally mandated training. Team members from all different workgroups gave examples of how you all are so frequently faced with a moral dilemma: Do you take care of yourself and work only the hours you’re paid for, or do you take care of your patients who need more care than your schedule allows? We know this issue has been worsening since the pandemic and following the employer’s poor decision-making during SCOPE. We emphasized that moral injury and better working conditions at other employers have led to plummeting retention amongst our highly skilled, highly educated bargaining unit, which ultimately leads to worse care outcomes for Kaiser patients…
While progress was made, we still have a long fight to go to get you the contract you deserve. Join our next Pro Town Hall on August 14th at 7:00PM to hear in-depth explanations of new TA’s, what we’re still working towards, and how you can get involved. Zoom invite info below, and please share with your colleagues too!
Lastly, special thanks to our nine observers that joined in to support the team! It led to a packed house (as pictured below), definitely ensuring management knows our members are holding this process accountable to be successful.
July 2nd
July 2nd was the 9th day at the Pro bargaining table. If you haven’t already signed the new Pro Bargaining Unit petition demanding management allow us to bargain key priorities like protecting our sick time and ensuring you have dedicated (paid) time to complete required trainings, please do so at this link HERE! If you’re unsure if you’ve already signed, it’s okay to sign it again just in case!!
Unfortunately, a majority of today was spent waiting on management to caucus -- management requested almost five of our eight hours together to be in caucus! Despite this, your Labor team remained hard at work and passed counter-proposals on Workplace Safety and Team Leads. While we were waiting for management to come back to the table, we continued our work on a counter-proposal for holiday pay and urgent care guidelines.
Know your worth! Your bargaining team does, and today we proposed historic market wage adjustments for all Professionals. We all work hard, and deserve market leading wages.
Please sign up to be an observer! Use this link to find remaining Pro table dates and sign up to reserve a spot. Some quotes from people who joined our table yesterday:
- “It’s been really great to watch and see you all at work.”
- “As a Team Lead, it was really helpful for me to see how our surveys are translated into proposals and it was really interesting to hear about all the exciting proposals that have been laid out by this team. Also, I’m amazed how you all keep going even though you are basically talking to a wall.”
- “I was disappointed that even though the Pro Team was ready at 8a, that management wasn’t ready until 10:30a. Managers seem to be unprepared to actually negotiate and the time is hugely wasted. I am impressed by the professionalism and concern for all bargaining unit members shown by the Pro bargaining team. Observing this process is very much time well spent, even though I’m very disappointed by the lack of good faith participation by management.”
We’re concerned with management’s delays during bargaining and refusals to have productive conversations on our proposals, even if they are not economic. We have put forward many proposals that will improve your working conditions and we need your action to pressure management to take your priorities seriously:
- Virtual conversion to avoid canceling visits when ill by allowing limited work from home
- An easier path to getting compensation for being a bilingual provider
- Protected time to complete required trainings
- Ensuring you are paid for all the work you do for KP
- A “Career Ladder” that allows you to stay in your clinical role and rewards you for advancing your clinical practice and engaging in the Labor-Management Partnership
- Differentials that match market rates
- Equitable wages scales
- Historic market wage adjustments
- Clear language around PTO benefits and approval process
- Protection from outsourcing and excessive use of travelers
- Clear language for filling vacancies and honoring bargaining unit seniority
- Language to ensure your working conditions are safe
- AC Paneling incentive and Urgent Care Guidelines
- Protected sick leave without joint discoveries for incidents
- New language to give labor a strong voice in scheduling and template changes.
We want to talk to you! Members from your bargaining team will be present to answer your questions:
- Thursday July 18th at noon at the Interstate Courtyard
- Tuesday July 22nd at noon at the SMC Cafeteria
- Wednesday July 23rd at noon the WMC Coffee Cart
Many of you have asked questions about the fundamentals of a Career Ladder. Here’s a graphic with some of the basics, and join an upcoming town hall or tabling event to ask anything else!
Join us at the next Pro Town Hall on Wednesday July 9th @ 7PM, and encourage your colleagues to join us too!
Topic: Pro Town Hall
Time: Jul 9, 2025 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://aft.zoom.us/j/98753329636?pwd=aa65BRiMw0rrIj9SYMntZxNpvyif7X.1
Meeting ID: 987 5332 9636
Passcode: OFNHP
Please remember to sign/share the petition, Red Up on Tuesdays, and talk to your coworkers about which bargaining topics mean the most to you!
In Solidarity,
Your Pro Bargaining Team
May 12th
Today marks your Pro Bargaining Team’s sixth day at the table with management.
Our focus today shifted heavily to a topic we heard loud and clear as a priority from our survey: financials. While items like across-the-board wage increases are handled at the national level, we presented proposals to solidify and improve provisions in our local contract, including:
Historic increases in differentials to recognize scope of practice and shift diversity within our bargaining unit.
Creating equity across job classifications for wage step increases to honor employee longevity.
Increased access to funding for continuing education and protection of education leave.
Enhanced bereavement benefits to acknowledge non-traditional family structures and allow for travel time.
Updated paneling language to incentivize Primary Care clinicians to participate.
Building on other priorities identified through the survey, we also introduced additional proposals focusing on:
Clarifying Paid Time Off policies.
Strengthening protocols to prevent workplace violence.
Establishing guardrails to limit the excessive use of travelers or agency staff performing bargaining unit work.
As you can see, your Pro Bargaining Team is bringing forward proposal after proposal — even catching management off guard with how prepared and determined we are to fight for a contract that secures Kaiser as the Best Place to Work. To date, Labor has passed more than four times as many proposals across the table as management. While we did finally receive their language regarding Team Lead determination and On-Call requirements, we believe there’s still more work to be done before we can reach agreement on these topics.
In our commitment to keeping you informed, we hope you’ll join us for our upcoming Virtual Town Hall on May 22 at 7:00 p.m. Full details are listed below!
Topic: KP Pro Town Hall
Time: May 22, 2025 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://aft.zoom.us/j/96513927486?pwd=dBiQJfeZDCvcQ1K44R6da65F2FyB3R.1
Meeting ID: 965 1392 7486
April 14th
Today was our fifth day at the bargaining table for our Pro Bargaining Team, and the work keeps moving!
We started the day by learning more about management’s interests, and are excited that we continue to find overlap and opportunities to change and improve our contract language. Today we exchanged multiple proposals with management and made real progress on multiple fronts.
In an ongoing effort to ensure that Pros are fairly compensated for the amount of work they do, we provided a proposal that would help ensure appropriate pay or flex opportunities when Pros go above and beyond our normally scheduled shift – like when you come in early to set up your work stations, see ill patients over your skipped lunch break, or consult with a medical provider on a patient’s care plan after the end of your shift. We’ve heard the stories of how frustrating it can be when the definition of “patient care” is too restrictive when determining additional pay, and we’re hoping to encompass a more realistic portrayal of the current state of care.
Also, we passed a proposal that would transform professional growth opportunities for the Pros after hearing this topic as a joint interest with management. This could incentivize many activities such as obtaining advanced certifications, providing clinical education to your fellow coworkers or students, and volunteering in the community. The intention is to encourage longevity and engagement, which would help Kaiser reclaim its status as the Best Place to Work.
Today we got not one, but TWO Tentative Agreements (TAs)!
- We were able to modernize our Sabbatical language to clarify the decision-makers, streamline the application process, and increase the number of individuals able to take Sabbatical at one time from eight to ten in the region!!
- We were able to finalize our Salary Progression language that begins to remedy the endless errors from HRConnect by ensuring Pros are placed, and moved, through the wage steps correctly. We believe winning this new language will drastically reduce the number of grievances and disputes that have historically caused our members wage inequity.
After many busy weeks, we now have over a month before we go back to the table again in May. In the meantime, continue to support your colleagues in other bargaining units as we all fight for the contracts we deserve. For now, don’t forget to RED UP ON TUESDAYS to show your solidarity, and let management know that you’re standing with your bargaining team!
April 9th
Your Pro Bargaining Team was back at the table with management today for the fourth time, and came excited and prepared to get things done after a few weeks since the last meeting.
Although we were hopeful to be given proposals to kick things off, management did require additional caucus time to start this morning to review and prepare counter-proposals to the four items we brought forward in March. During this time, your Pro Bargaining Team decided to use this caucus time to work on even more new proposals to put forth during the rest of April and May bargaining dates – because we know this time and effort is important to all of you!
Despite this initial wait, we were able to solidify our first Tentative Agreement (TA)! This will amend language to remove the Salary Review Committee, which has been a frustrating and unsuccessful practice for members who believe their salary and step placement does not accurately reflect their qualifications and experience. As of this new agreement, members who would like to escalate their disputes can do so by using the Grievance pathway with much more enforceable language.
After further discussion regarding the list of potential interests from both sides of the table, we moved into reviewing the last proposals Labor passed in March. Conversation continued on all four of the proposals provided.
Labor submitted two additional proposals:
- Expanding and clarifying Bilingual Differential eligibility, to most appropriately support our diverse patient population; and
- Protecting Administrative Time for required trainings, in an effort to begin mitigating our current state of taking necessary Healthstream and KPLearn modules during our lunches, breaks, or personal time.
At the end of the day, management provided a counter-proposal to our initial Sabbatical language passed back in March. The Pro Bargaining Team sees additional opportunities and edits to this language before we believe it best represents language that protects the Pro’s ability to expand professionally.
For now, don’t forget to RED UP ON TUESDAYS to show your solidarity, and let management know that you’re standing with your bargaining team! If you haven’t already, make sure to sign the bargaining platform petition
if you have not already.
March 20th
For the third day in a row, your Pro bargaining team was back at the table again!
Today we heard management’s first group of interests, with many echoing the concerns and needs we stated yesterday:
- Contract Clean-up
- Staffing and Retention
- Education Fund and Sabbatical
- Flexibility
We expect to hear more interests from management at our upcoming bargaining sessions. We had two full productive days of conversation, and we are cautiously optimistic that we are on the path to get great improvements in our contract.
In the afternoon, we got to work passing management our first set of proposals. We focused on a few areas of easy alignment, as well as a few areas of the contract that have been a significant issue for years:
- We proposed eliminating antiquated language that has caused confusion and delays in resolving issues between Labor and Management
- After successful pilots in multiple departments, we proposed expanding the ability to convert in-person to virtual days. Our proposal included six days in a rolling six-month period for Professionals who are able to complete all of their work virtually and when operationally feasible.
- After years of HRConnect errors, we proposed amending our Salary Progression language in Article 4, to ensure members are paid appropriately and that they move up the wage steps when they should.
Our next bargaining dates are 4/9 and 4/11, and we hope to see proposals from management soon. In the meantime, this team will continue to develop language we believe will benefit the Professional bargaining unit, and address the concerns you all have relayed!
For now, don’t forget to RED UP ON TUESDAYS
to show your solidarity, and let management know that you’re standing with your bargaining team!
March 19th
Your Pro Bargaining team has been preparing diligently over the last 6 months – volunteering their evenings and weekends to train, talk, practice, and assemble a bargaining platform that will fight for a contract that betters the conditions of all 1,100+ members in the unit.
Today, this team delivered that message loud and clear on our first day of bargaining with management: Kaiser can, and MUST, do better! We shared large-scale issues that we heard from all of you through your survey results and experiences over the last 4 years.
Tomorrow, we meet again with management to hear the issues they want to bargain over. We’ll send another update then to keep you informed of everything that happens at the table.
For now, share this email with a colleague and ask them “What changes would make Kaiser the best place to work?” Make sure you follow our socials to see updates from all other bargaining tables as well!