Letter to Mr. Greg Adams, Chairman and CEO of the Kaiser Foundation Hospital and Health Plan, Inc., and Mr. Hal Ruddick, Executive Director of the Alliance of Health Care Unions - Rep. Gomez and Colleagues Call for Improved Wages and Working Conditions for Healthcare Workers

Letter

Dear Mr. Adams and Mr. Ruddick:

As Members of Congress who represent millions of healthcare workers -- registered nurses, pharmacists, physician assistants and others - across the country, we urge the Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Health Plan, Inc. ("Kaiser") to negotiate a fair contract with the Alliance of Health Care Unions ("Alliance"). Such a contract must acknowledge the pivotal role Kaiser and its union workforce play in responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency and caring for the sick.

Throughout the pandemic, healthcare workers on the frontline have endured trauma, grief and exhaustion. Now, this stress is further magnified as record number of retirements and resignations have led more than half a million workers to leave the healthcare profession since the start of the pandemic. Employers across the industry are desperately searching for enough healthcare workers to provide safe care, workers are scrambling to provide safe care without enough staff, and patients are waiting far too long for routine as well as acute care. Many employers are responding to the challenge of attracting and retaining health care workers by increasing compensation.

The outcome of your negotiations will reverberate throughout the healthcare industry. Kaiser and its labor unions have long set a nationally recognized model for high employment standards, business success, and quality care through a labor-management partnership. Now all of that is at risk, with important implications for our health care system and labor-management relations across the U.S. It is for this reason that we urge you to redouble your efforts to negotiate collaboratively to reach a fair contract that will allow for the recruitment and retention of experienced healthcare workers.

A strike would worsen access to care -- already challenged by the ongoing pandemic and deferred care -- and would be a blow to our economy and safe patient care. We hope that all parties will work in good faith to reach an agreement that bolsters our economy, the healthcare industry, and the patients and members you care for.