About 300 mental health workers at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego are returning to work this week after approving a new four-year contract that ends what the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) calls the longest mental health strike in U.S. history. The agreement follows nearly seven months of picketing, a hunger strike and a public call from Gov. Gavin Newsom urging both sides to resolve the dispute.
The contract includes a 20% raise over four years, a defined-benefit pension plan, a ratification bonus, and a first-time guarantee of five hours a week for full-time therapists to handle care-related tasks outside of sessions.
“Full-time therapists are guaranteed five hours a week to take care of many issues that patients need outside of therapy,” said Sal Rosselli, former president of NUHW.
But union leaders say the deal doesn’t close the pay gap between mental health and medical professionals. Therapists still earn up to 50% less than physical and occupational therapists, said Rosselli. And Kaiser’s absence from a special State Assembly hearing this week on behavioral health only deepened frustrations.
“Chair Assemblywoman Mia Banta, you know, reading a two-page letter that Kaiser sent, instead of coming to answer the questions of his legislature, just rolled it up in disgust,” he said.
In a statement, Kaiser said it looks forward to welcoming its mental health clinicians back to work.
The contract is retroactive to September 2024 and runs through 2028. But union leaders say they’ll continue their push in Sacramento for true mental health parity, starting with two new state bills.
