California workers will get five sick days instead of three under law

75,000 Kaiser Permanente Workers , Begin Largest Health Care Strike in US. The three-day strike began on Oct. 4, 'The Guardian' reports. The workers are seeking new union contracts since their current ones lapsed on Oct. 1. They want better wages and staffing, 'The Guardian' reports. Kaiser Permanente locations in California, Colorado, D.C., Oregon, Virginia and Washington have been affected. Unions cited the health care provider's $3 billion profit in the first half of the year. They also pointed to executives' excessive salaries. Record profits should mean record contracts that invest in workers and the patients we serve, Dawn Martin, a medical assistant in Battle Ground, Washington, via statement. Kaiser executives are refusing to listen to frontline healthcare workers like me and are bargaining in bad faith over the solutions we need to end the Kaiser short-staffing crisis, Dawn Martin, a medical assistant in Battle Ground, Washington, via statement. The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions said that over the summer, the health care provider said that its workers "make too much money" while its CEO is paid $16 million per year. Workers across race and background are taking on Kaiser, saying it’s time to bargain in good faith and respect us, protect us and pay us the living wages we need to thrive. , Mary Kay Henry, international president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), via statement. They’re demanding what’s necessary for patients to get the quality care they need and deserve, Mary Kay Henry, international president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), via statement. They are burnt out, scared for their patients and fed up. It’s time for Kaiser to act with the urgency this staffing crisis demands and to settle a fair contract that includes long-term solutions to the crisis like livable wages and benefits, Mary Kay Henry, international president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), via statement