More than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente employees are threatening to walk out Wednesday morning if they cannot agree to a new labor contract. The previous contract expired Saturday. Union leaders say this could be the largest strike by health care workers in recent U.S. history.
The health system failed to reach a new contract agreement with some of its unionized employees, who have planned a three-day job action in Kaiser’s facilities in several states.
Doctors and many nurses were not involved in the strike, but Kaiser officials warned that some non-urgent procedures might be postponed, some clinic hours might be reduced, and that waits on phone calls for assistance could be lengthy.
The health care system provides care for 13 million people in eight states. Union officials say the job action threatened for Wednesday could be the largest strike by health care workers in recent U.S. history.