Kaiser Permanente workers set to end historic strike, but another may loom
CBSN
More than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers are set to return to work on Saturday without a contract agreement after staging the largest walkout by health care workers in U.S. history.
The three-day walkout at Kaiser hospitals and medical offices in five states and Washington, D.C., is scheduled to end tomorrow at 6 a.m. local time, according to the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions. The work stoppage by nurses, lab technicians, pharmacists and others began early Wednesday in California, Colorado, Oregon, Virginia, Washington and the nation's capital.
Workers claim chronic understaffing bolsters Kaiser's bottom line but hurts patient care and staff morale, while the managed care giant argues it faces an industrywide shortage of workers.