KP-CNA Bargaining Update, November 12, 13, and 14, 2022

We want to update you on the extraordinary effort and progress we are making together in bargaining to ensure you are supported in the important care you provide each day and remain among the best compensated nursing professionals in the industry.

On Saturday, in a push to reach an excellent, comprehensive agreement as soon as possible, Kaiser Permanente invited CNA back to the bargaining table and both parties spent the entire weekend—late into the night and early mornings—exchanging proposals and counterproposals, making significant progress on nearly every issue. We continued this momentum with bargaining today.

Further enhanced compensation and enhancements to retiree medical benefits

Yesterday, we enhanced our most recent compensation proposal from a cumulative 21¼% to 22½% in wage increases over 4 years, in an effort to respond to union proposals and demonstrate our continued investments in our nurses and the value of caring for patients at Kaiser Permanente.

We also proposed enhancements to retiree medical benefits, including no premium cost share through 12/31/2026 for those retiring on or after 1/1/2017; and an increase to Health Retirement Accounts (HRAs) to $15,000 (from $6,250), also making your HRA open for use by Medicare-eligible spouses/domestic partners.

We have reached agreement on proposals that will significantly increase staffing, reduce RN vacancies, and increase RN retention

We already had agreement on the number of nurses to be hired into float positions and to increase the number of 12-hour shifts available. Today we reached a tentative agreement on the following:

• Expand the number of new grad/resident RNs to 1,200
• Add specialty training for 400 incumbent RNs in specialties such as peri-op services, maternal child health, critical care, emergency departments, and oncology and infusion
• Add training positions for 80 RNs to enter or re-enter into acute care
• Hire or train 50 NPs and 80 RNs in our ambulatory care settings

Protecting RN positions and continuing remote work

We have put forth contract provisions that will continue to protect our nurses in their important roles. KP’s proposals start from a commitment not to contract or outsource nursing roles and include proposals for KP and CNA to agree on the current need to supplement staffing. Highlights of our proposal are:

• Ensuring call center nurses continue to work remotely, as well as remote work for hybrid functions, such as chronic disease management.
• Protecting home health and hospice RN positions for KP RNs.
• Proposed plan to in-source Acute Care at Home nurses once census reaches a target number.

We are continuing to work through proposals around subcontracting and meal/break relief. Today at the bargaining table we heard from RNs about the challenges around meal/break relief, especially ensuring adequate transition time. We take these concerns very seriously and listened carefully. We recognize how important this is to you and your fellow nurses, and we are committed to working on meaningful solutions and guidelines that will alleviate these challenges.

You can be assured we are being guided in our conversations by ensuring your well-being and security and fortifying the flexibility needed to meet our patients’ needs. There is vigorous back-and-forth on remaining issues, and we remain optimistic we can reach a comprehensive tentative agreement that will recognize and reward our Northern California nurses, continue to build our nursing workforce, and help keep our members’ needs for safe, affordable, high-quality care at the forefront.

The effort, commitment, and proposals across the board meet or exceed anything previously seen in KP-CNA bargaining. We are proud of the work you do and proud to continue working to ensure Kaiser Permanente is the best place to work for our valued nurses.