Kaiser Permanente unions endorse tentative agreement

Union delegates endorsed a tentative agreement in mid-June between the nonprofit health-care giant Kaiser Permanente and a coalition of 32 labor unions, including one in Hawaii, and sent it to approximately 96,000 union members nationwide for ratification.

Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions reached an agreement on a national two-year contract on May 28. On Saturday, at the Union Delegates Conference in San Jose, the agreement was unanimously endorsed by 500 union delegates, including a team of nurses and officials from the Hawaii Nurses’ Association.

The agreement still must be reviewed by Kaiser officials and its board of directors. It then will be submitted to the members of the individual unions for ratification this summer, union officials said. If ratified, the contract will take effect Oct. 1.

The Hawaii Nurses’ Association, which represents approximately 4,000 nurses in Hawaii, said it is the first and only Hawaii union to join the coalition. The tentative agreement provides for annual 3 percent wage increases across the board, maintains current health, medical and pension benefits, offers an enhanced sick-leave cash-out option, funding for work-force development trust funds and strengthens the Labor Management Partnership, an agreement between Kaiser and the union coalition established in 1997.