Kaiser Engineers Offered Better Death Benefits When They Asked For A Raise

By: Acsah Lemma

In late September of this year, the worker’s contract for Kaiser engineers expired. Local 39, the labor union they are a part of, is made up of 700 engineers across the Bay Area and Norcal region. Due to inflation and the high cost of living in that area, the employees expected a reasonable 3-4% raise, only to be met with 2%. Refusing to settle for that pay, the engineers went on strike and have been on strike since.

Protest Drawing by Sara Dilliplane

In the past 2 years, Kaiser Permanente made around $6.4 billion in profit. But according to themselves, the reason their healthcare is becoming increasingly unaffordable is that they pay their employees too much. An unnamed engineer says that throughout this pandemic Kaiser continuously calls them heroes, even giving them a $1k bonus once, but when the 3 years they had to re-negotiate a contract ran up, the company refused to settle with the hundreds of engineers they have staffed. Even offering better death benefits when they first asked for a 4% raise.

According to Jeffrey Florence, the Local 39 Strike Captain, other hospitals such as UCSF Children’s Hospital and Sutter employ Local 39 engineers as well, but they are paid way more.“We worked through the PPE shortage, we worked through changing protocols… we expose ourselves as well as our family and now they are telling us we don’t deserve to make as much as other engineers are making,” said Florence. “But the fight is even worse for the Bay Area engineers,” he continues, “their cost of living is so much higher than ours and our wage is close to the poverty level for a family of 4 living in San Francisco.” With groceries up 13-15% and gas prices skyrocketing as well, the engineers are fighting for more than just money, they are fighting to survive.

The contract Kaiser Permanente offered them didn’t just include a less than respectable raise, it added to the engineer’s already overwhelming job requirements. As of now, engineers employed at Kaiser are stationary and do not leave their designated hospital, but with the new additions to their contract, engineers would be required to travel as far south as Fresno and as far north as Santa Rosa. Florence surmised that “they intend to take engineers from already understaffed hospitals… and have not committed to hiring more staff.”

Two SEIU labor representatives lead rally chants alongside an engineer at Kaiser Permanente Morse Avenue on the Nov. 18 sympathy strike

Despite the radio silence from Kaiser Permanente, the engineers of the Local 39 union are prepared to strike for as long as it takes. They refuse to give up because they believe if they concede, Kaiser will use this as justification to repeat their actions with other marginalized groups. Although they have already been on strike for over 2 months, through rain and shine, 24/7, the engineers say that having sympathy strikes and seeing people support them even for a little while, helps them to remember their fight is worth it.