In many countries like California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., nurses, emergency department, technicians,, pharmacists, all the medical facilities shut down and many other employees, totaling more than 75,000, went on Kesar Strike .
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More About Kesar Strike
In the United States around all the hospitals and medical facilities across , hundreds of healthcare workers left their jobs on Wednesday morning due to an effort to increase pressure on their employers to address staffing shortages that have become more severe since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to unions of Government, this is the largest healthcare Kesar Strike in American history and this is not happen ever before.
Kaiser Permanente, headquartered in Oakland, California, is one of the largest non-profit healthcare providers in the United States, serving around 13 million patients. Most of Kesar Strike employees who leave the job will remain on strike until Saturday morning, with Virginia and Washington, D.C. exceptions, where the strike will last for 24 hours.
How it affects to the Patient ?
Healthcare providers have stated that during the strike, their hospitals and emergency departments will remain open with doctors and other staff on duty. They have also indicated that they are incorporating professionals who will play crucial roles during the Kesar Strike period.
Kaiser has warned patients that many of non-emergency and elective services which may be rescheduled due to many circumstances. The organization is expanding its network of community pharmacies to include community pharmacists, ensuring that patients can still access medication even if outpatient pharmacies are temporarily closed. Patient pharmacies within Kaiser hospitals will remain open.
According to the organization, approximately 60% of Kaiser employees, including doctors, will continue to work throughout the entire Kesar Strike.
Staffing Crisis and Employee Concerns
This strike by healthcare workers, inspired by the recent United Auto Workers strike in Hollywood and others earlier this year, represents a new wave of important labor actions related to working conditions and compensation in 2023.
They are highlighting the challenges of working during a staffing shortage, which they have created difficult conditions, making it harder for Kaiser employees to continue providing high-quality patient care.
Healthcare workers choose this profession because it’s a calling for them,” said Caroline Lucas, Executive Director of the Kaiser Permanente Unions Coalition. “People don’t readily feel content in professions where they don’t believe they can offer the greatest care possible.”
Unions claim that Kaiser has made the staffing situation worse by refusing to participate in adequate good-faith negotiations, but Kaiser refuse these claims.
Kaiser has rejected calls to reject the strike and has called on employees not to leave their jobs, citing potential harm to patients.
However, longtime Kaiser employees like Brook Al-Amin, who has worked at Kaiser for 21 years, believe that patients’ care has already been affected by the staffing shortage. The goal of the strike is to pressure Kaiser into addressing long-standing issues in patient care.
” Al-Amin said “I don’t want to strike. But I believe Kaiser had already let down its personnel by making their patients unhappy.
In Washington, D.C. and Virginia, clinical pharmacists and optometrists were the first to go on strike at 6 a.m. local time on Wednesday, followed by workers on the West Coast.
Many of Kaiser employees, energized by their union’s momentum, joined the picket line at Kaiser’s Springfield Medical Center in Virginia shortly after the strike began.
Kiyani Adigun, a clinical pharmacist in Washington, D.C., said that they have been fighting throughout the pandemic to meet the demands of patients, as co-workers have left Kaiser in significant numbers.
Before joining the picket, Adigun said, “I hope Kaiser leadership hears our voice. The harder we work, the fewer resources we seem to get.
