Discussions at Alliance national bargaining from August 19 to 23 led to agreements on several important issues.
New tentative agreements enhance minimum wage and strengthen the Labor Management Partnership
Kaiser Permanente and the Alliance of Health Care Unions met August 19 to 23 in Los Angeles to continue discussions on a new national agreement. The current national agreement expires on September 30, 2025.
During the session, Kaiser Permanente and the Alliance approved 10 new tentative agreements – raising the total number to 44.
The subgroups focused on partnership effectiveness and AI and technology completed their work and the full bargaining team reached consensus on their recommendations. The Staffing and Patient Care subgroup will continue its work at the next session.
The parties continued to discuss economic proposals. Both sides are working toward a fair agreement that includes across-the-board wage increases and enhanced employee benefits.
In addition, Alliance union and KP leaders from across the organization gathered at this session in a joint effort to advance local negotiations. Making progress in these negotiations is an important step toward reaching a new national agreement.
The focus on economics and local bargaining follows progress made in early August, when Kaiser Permanente and the Alliance reached 30 national tentative agreements.
This session, the full bargaining team—known as the Common Issues Committee—approved new tentative agreements on:
- Minimum wage rates in every market, including corresponding adjustments to wage scales and career ladders
- Increased contributions to agreed-upon labor education, training, and retirement trusts, including increased training and pension funding for International Union of Operating Engineers locals 1, 99, and 501 in Colorado, Mid-Atlantic and Southern California.
- Strengthening the Labor Management Partnership contract language concerning artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies
Subgroup updates
During this session, the CIC reached agreement on several recommendations from the Partnership Effectiveness subgroup, including the following:
Agreement that a sample UBT agenda will be created as a guide for UBTs
Emphasize instructor-led LMP training courses both in-person and virtually
Create a joint body to review, assess, and recommend ways to enhance UBT Tracker—a web-based tool to collect and report data on unit-based teams—whenever it is approved for update or replacement
The CIC also reached consensus on contract language from the AI and Technology subgroup. The language governs the use of AI and technology to enhance the patient care experience at Kaiser Permanente, integrate employee input into AI development, and help ensure ethical, safe deployment of technology.
The Staffing and Patient Care subgroup addressed their final deliverable to develop guidance for working in partnership to establish or change work schedules that meet the needs of patients, employees and Kaiser Permanente. Management and labor representatives were unable to reach consensus before the session ended. They will continue their discussion in the next session.
What’s next
The next national bargaining session is scheduled September 9 to 13 in Los Angeles.