Celebrating the First National Agreement Between Kaiser Permanente and the Alliance of Health Care Unions

An Important Message from Chuck Columbus, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer

We’re pleased to announce that the new 3-year Alliance National Agreement between Kaiser Permanente and the Alliance of Health Care Unions was overwhelmingly ratified by all 21 union locals in the Alliance. This agreement — the first ever between KP and the newly formed Alliance — is in effect through September 30, 2021. It lays out industry-leading standards for quality, service, affordability, workplace health and safety, and professional development.

This agreement covers 49,000 of our unionized health care workers in jobs that include registered nurses, pharmacists, and maintenance and service workers. It goes far beyond the scope of a typical union agreement, with distinctive provisions that enable KP to continue to be a great place to work and to receive high-quality, affordable care in a rapidly changing health care marketplace. Provisions within the agreement specifically help address the issue of rising health care costs and the need for solutions that keep our health care services both high quality and affordable. It also reflects our preferred approach to working with our unions in a labor management partnership that benefits all — our employees, our Alliance partners, and most importantly, our patients, members, and communities.

Beyond the traditional topics of wages and benefits, the agreement continues support for our unit-based teams, a hallmark feature of our Labor Management Partnership, and creates an environment of continuous learning and improvement. The agreement also recognizes the evolving nature of health care roles by including career development provisions. These allow us to support our employees as they evolve in their roles to meet the needs of our members and patients today and well into the future.

It also clarifies what labor and management can expect from each other as partners. It reaffirms our commitment to working together successfully to achieve the vision of the renewed 2018 Labor Management Partnership Agreement signed by the Alliance and KP in May. The renewed agreement builds on the foundation of the Labor Management Partnership that has been in place for more than 20 years.

We are proud of the Alliance National Agreement, and we’re pleased to be working in partnership with the Alliance. We hope all unions that represent KP employees will agree to join in our renewed partnership, as we believe that a strong partnership links KP’s success with our employees’ and unions’ success. But we honor each union’s choice regarding partnership, and we are committed to working productively with all unions and to fulfilling all our bargaining obligations in good faith.

Please join me in thanking the management and union representatives for their hard work and professionalism in crafting an excellent national agreement and celebrating this next chapter in our partnership journey.