Planned 5-day strike at Kaiser Permanente health care facilities ends, with plans for further talks

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A planned five-day strike by thousands of registered nurses and other Kaiser Permanente health care workers in California, Hawaii and Oregon ended on Sunday, union leaders and the health care system said.

California-based Kaiser Permanente said it welcomed back about 30,000 employees who participated in the strike, which began Tuesday and ended Sunday morning. Its statement said its facilities were “staffed by physicians, experienced managers and trained staff, along with nearly 6,000 contracted nurses, clinicians and others who worked with us during the strike.”

Plans call for bargaining to resume this week, with a focus on “economic issues,” the statement said. While unions also raised staffing and other concerns, “wages are the reason for the strike and the primary issue in negotiations,” the statement said.

The United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals, which represents registered nurses, pharmacists, nurse midwives and other health care professionals in California and Hawaii, said in a statement that more than 500 hospitals and clinics were impacted by the strike. It said the strike sent a message that “patient care and safe staffing must come first.”

It announced plans to resume bargaining later this month.

Sarina Roher, president of the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, in a statement said Kaiser Permanente “cannot fix its staffing and access crisis without competitive wages that retain and recruit the skilled professionals our patients depend on.”

Kaiser Permanente is one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit health plans, serving 12.6 million members at 600 medical offices and 40 hospitals, largely in western U.S. states.