LOS ANGELES COUNTY : 300 Hold One-Day Strike at 4 Kaiser Facilities

Nearly 300 union members participated in one-day strike actions Thursday at four Kaiser Permanente medical facilities in Los Angeles County.

The job actions added a new twist to the more than 2-month-old standoff between the large health maintenance organization and the health care workers by centering on specific grievances filed by members of Local 399 of the Service Employees International Union.

One of the grievances was filed by Robert Magllanes, an optical technician, who stood on a picket line outside Kaiser’s Glendale Service Center optical lab with more than two dozen other union members. The technician said he was shown “a lack of respect” and was subjected to “harassment” by one of his supervisors.

A Kaiser spokesman said the job actions led to minor disruptions but did not affect patient care. In addition to the Glendale facility, workers set up picket lines outside Kaiser medical centers in Bellflower and Harbor City, and at a warehouse in Downey.

In an effort to win wage and benefit concessions, union members also have pushed for legislation that would remove Kaiser’s tax exemption and have issued a report on its investment philosophy.