More News from NUHW’s Strike at Kaiser Permanente

By all accounts, NUHW’s members carried off quite a strike at Kaiser last week. The one-week strike, which ended Monday morning, was honored by nearly 100% of NUHW’s 4,000 members, according to Tasty’s sources.

Kaiser's patients and their family members -- including public officials and a popular newspaper columnist -- stepped forward and publicized their own horror stories about Kaiser's under-staffed mental health clinics. Patients even brought homemade signs and walked picket lines with the striking workers.

One county official -- who lost her husband to suicide after Kaiser delayed his care -- sent this letter of support to striking mental health clinicians.

NUHW has documented more than a dozen suicides directly connected to Kaiser's excessive wait times and under-staffed clinics -- including three suicides by the family members of sitting elected officials in California.

In Oakland, hundreds of workers gathered in front of Kaiser's national headquarters and chanted, "No more suicides!”

Meanwhile, Kaiser's operating engineers joined workers in a sympathy strike. And firefighters -- the first responders who care for many people in mental health crises -- volunteered to

cook meals for hundreds of strikers on Friday.

The Massachusetts Nurses Association donated $5,000 to the striking workers.

The strike received massive press attention across the U.S., including this piece on NPR's national weekend broadcast. The strike even got international coverage like this piece published in London.

And on a more humorous note... check out one worker's creative re-writing of Kaiser's post-strike e-mail to workers. The original message, penned by two of Kaiser's overpaid corporate hacks named GregAdams and Robbie Pearl, was so jam-packed with corporate-speak and mealy-mouthed misinformation that the worker was compelled to set the record straight by clowning its dishonest authors. 

Video: Top Kaiser Executive Reveals Truth in Behind-Closed-Doors Speech

Kaiser's Robert Pearl

Check out this video. 

The resourceful folks over at NUHW got ahold of a top Kaiser exec discussing Kaiser’s super-profits during a behind-closed-doors speech.

The exec -- Dr. Robert Pearl -- is the CEO of The Permanente Medical Group (TPMG), one of Kaiser’s various for-profit arms. TPMG runs Kaiser’s clinics and outpatient facilities in Northern California.

In the speech, Pearl reveals that TPMG pocketed $1.2 billion in profits last year. That’s in addition to the $2.7 billion in profits that Kaiser's non-profit arm reported.

TPMG’s profits are usually hidden from public view because the company is owned by private shareholders who are not required to make their financial statements available to the public.

TPMG’s booming profits are another bit of jaw-dropping news for Kaiser’s workers. 

Why?

Kaiser has been holding mandatory meetings -- called “Turbulent Times” -- during which the HMO’s fatcat execs tell workers that the sky is falling and workers must accept cuts… like the massive benefit cuts that SEIU-UHW’s Dave Regan already accepted in a secret “unpublished side letter," say sources.

Check out the other parts of Pearl’s speech. He says Kaiser is preparing for big strikes by the California Nurses Association because the nurses will refuse to accept the cuts that SEIU-UHW and the "partnership unions" have already secretly agreed to. Here's what Pearl says:

…our nurses union has a contract up this year that will not get settled. There's no way it gets settled. And so we're looking at strikes inevitably coming up sometime in the latter part of 2014 heading into 2015.

SEIU-UHW's Hal Ruddick Brings 'Retro' Partnership Message to Kaiser Permanente Workers

Hal Ruddick -- the new Executive Director of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions -- is apparently bringing a “retro” approach to the Partnership.

Like… way retro!

Check out a recent announcement given to Kaiser’s workers in California. (A full copy is below.)

It looks like Ruddick and Kaiser simply borrowed the following graphic image and ideological message from a 1950s corporate propaganda campaign.

 

Incredibly pathetic... and super condescending, right?

(In case you’re wondering, the 1950s-looking Boss who’s pictured next to “Happy Business” is Robert Pearl, the CEO of The Permanente Medical Group. He earns beaucoup bucks. That's why he's smiling.)

So what’s the purpose of the leaflet?

Kaiser, SEIU-UHW and the Partnership unions are pushing workers to attend 1 ½ hour presentations where Kaiser’s executives plan to discuss workers' “role in ensuring Kaiser’s continued success.” During the presentations, Kaiser’s fatcat execs deliver a gloom-and-doom message aimed at preparing workers to swallow massive benefit cuts accepted by SEIU-UHW and the Partnership unions.  

The timing of this propaganda offensive is quite comical. Just two weeks ago, Kaiser announced third-quarter profits of more than a half billion dollars!

In fact, Kaiser has pocketed $2.2 billion in profits during the first nine months of 2013, according to its recent press release. And since 2009, Kaiser piled more than $10.9 billion of profits into its bank accounts!

Hmm… sounds like a perfect time for Kaiser’s workers to make painful sacrifices so that Robert Pearl, Bernard Tyson and the rest of Kaiser’s Bosses can keep on grinnin' from ear to ear!

   Announcement from Kaiser Permanente and SEIU-UHW to Kaiser Employees to Attend Presentation on "Turbul...