2019 Coalition Bargaining Update
An Important Message From Dennis Dabney, Senior Vice President, National Labor Relations and the Office of the Labor Management Partnership; and Jim Pruitt, Vice President, Labor Management Partnership and Labor Relations, The Permanente Federation
It’s great to be able to report to you that our 2-day opening session of bargaining between Kaiser Permanente and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions went very well. Our goal is to craft a strong new KP–Coalition National Agreement that advances not only the interests of our organization and our employees who are represented by the Coalition unions, but that also better serves our members and patients. In these 2 days, we created a strong foundation that will help us achieve that success.
The most important part of this session was the joint interest-based bargaining training. The interest-based bargaining process is central to the success of our Labor Management Partnership. It’s an approach that allows both parties to identify our shared interests and develop options to strengthen our partnership, ensure we have the best place to work, and create innovative solutions that meet the needs of our members and the communities we serve. The interest-based bargaining process creates the framework where that can happen.
In addition, the group began to lay out what we see as the scope of work for 3 subgroups: Operations and Care Quality, Partnership, and Workforce of the Future. Participants also took time to express what’s most important to them in their jobs as health care professionals. This photo sums up the spirit and collaboration of the session.
Kaiser Permanente believes in partnership. Our commitment to our unions is as strong today as ever. With many of the Coalition unions’ local contracts close to expiring, it’s important to seek a new mutually beneficial Agreement.
By working in partnership with the unions that represent our employees, we will continue to achieve the best results for our members, patients, and the communities who depend on us to provide high-quality, affordable health care — and help to keep Kaiser Permanente a great place to work.
This starts with our pledge to bargain in good faith and our commitment to reach fair and equitable agreements that provide our employees with excellent, market-competitive benefits and wages.
We look forward to giving you further updates. The next session will be May 14-16 in Los Angeles.
Managers, please print this update as a flyer to share with your team