Kaiser Mental Health Workers Strike for Better Conditions in California

Kaiser Permanente Mental Health Workers Stage Strike Across Southern California

Nearly 2,400 mental health professionals at Kaiser Permanente have initiated a strike in Southern California. These workers are pressing for the nation's largest nonprofit health organization to address a mental health system so troubled that the state of California imposed a $50 million fine on it last year.

The members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), including psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, addiction medicine counselors, licensed clinical counselors, and marriage and family therapists, provide mental health care to 4.8 million Kaiser members. They work across hospitals, clinics, medical offices, and home care settings from San Diego to Bakersfield.

"This is about equality in mental health care," stated Jessica Rentz, a Kaiser therapist in Fontana. "We want to be with our patients, not on a picket line, but we can't continue working in a system that treats mental health care like factory work and denies us the time and resources to provide the care we know our patients need."

The strike commenced on October 21, three weeks post the expiration of the workers' contract. Picket lines across Southern California have been lively, with significant media coverage and visits from elected officials.

Congressman Adam Schiff, who is likely to win the U.S. Senate race in November, voiced his support on X: "Kaiser mental health workers are striking for better patient care, fair wages, and pensions. I support the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) in their fight because quality mental health care requires quality wages and benefits."

The strike has been reported by CNN, CalMatters, and Los Angeles Times, among others. Television stations in San Diego and Los Angeles, including KCAL and NBC-4, also covered the strike's first day.

Challenges in Mental Health Care, Especially in Southern California

Kaiser Permanente has a history of breaching mental health laws and clinical standards. The organization was fined $4 million in 2014 by California regulators for denying timely care access. More recently, it received a record $50 million fine for violating state mental health laws. Accepting the fine, Kaiser acknowledged it lacks enough mental health providers, resulting in excessive wait times for individual therapy appointments.

Two years ago, a 10-week strike by NUHW-represented mental health therapists in Northern California prompted Kaiser to allocate more time for patient care tasks outside appointments, increase staffing, and enhance mental health services. However, Kaiser's management has not extended these resources to Southern California, leading to a two-tier mental health system. This disparity leaves Northern California patients with better access to care and professionals with more time to meet patient needs.

Kaiser employs approximately 40% fewer therapists in Southern California than in Northern California, despite having around 200,000 more members in the southern region. While hiring has increased, retention remains a challenge. Many professionals lack pensions and sufficient time for patient care tasks, as their schedules are filled with appointments.

Kaiser data reveals that 25% of the 1,508 mental health professionals hired in Southern California between January 2021 and September 2024 have left their positions. Among the 367 who departed, 64% did so within the first year of employment.

In the past year, 40 therapists from Southern California have transitioned to telehealth roles in Northern California, attracted by higher pay, more time for patient care tasks, and pensions.

As Kaiser has yet to develop a state-approved plan to address the deficiencies leading to the $50 million fine, its refusal to provide equal working conditions and care access in Southern California signals a significant concern for its mental health professionals.

"Kaiser's corrective action plan isn't worth the paper it's printed on while it insists on denying us enough time to do our jobs and pays us less than our colleagues not working in mental health," said Gena Porter, a psychiatric nurse at Kaiser in Riverside. "What we're proposing is necessary for Kaiser to staff and resource its mental health care system, and Kaiser's refusal to consider it shows they aren't serious about improving care."

Advocating for Equality in Mental Health Care

The NUHW members are advocating for a contract offering the same working conditions as their Northern California colleagues, along with comparable salaries and benefits to non-mental health workers at Kaiser. Despite a state order for "transformational change" in its mental health service delivery, Kaiser has rejected the workers' proposals.

• Patient Care Time: Workers are requesting 7 hours per week for patient care tasks that can't be completed during therapy sessions, such as responding to calls and emails, developing treatment plans, and preparing for appointments. In Northern California, Kaiser guarantees 7 weekly hours for full-time therapists, but Southern California management offers only 4 hours, falsely claiming that 7 hours would mean therapists don't see patients 40% of their work time.
• Fair Wages: Workers seek raises to offset years without cost-of-living increases and to equalize wages with non-mental health workers at Kaiser, whose salaries can be up to 40% higher. Currently, Kaiser proposes lower raises than those recently offered to members of the Kaiser Coalition of Unions.
• Pension Restoration: Most Kaiser employees in California still receive pensions, but post-2014 hires in mental health do not, leading many to leave and undermining Kaiser's mental health training program. Kaiser data shows mental health professionals without pensions are twice as likely to leave than those with pensions.

"Everything we're proposing at the negotiating table, Kaiser already provides to the vast majority of its workforce," said Adriana Webb, a Kaiser medical social worker specializing in HIV patient care. "If Kaiser truly wants to transform its mental health care system, it must begin by ending the inequities that harm us and our patients."

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