About 500 San Diego pharmacy and laboratory workers walked off the job Monday in solidarity with nurses and other health care professionals already on strike against Kaiser Permanente, according to the United Food and Commercial Workers local 135. They are calling for higher staffing levels and better pay.
“It was difficult to walk out today,” said Erin Ellengard, a clinical lab scientist at Kaiser in La Mesa. “To say I’m not going to do my job today because we want to be able to provide good care to our patients.”
Ellengard said understaffing in laboratories creates risks for patients, particularly during emergencies.
“Whether it’s diagnosing a heart attack or a blood clot or anything like that, they need to be able to have access to those laboratory results,” Ellengard said. “And if we don’t have enough people working in the laboratory to do that, it’s hard on those of us that are there.”
National contract negotiations had been stalled since December, the union said.
“We want the Kaiser executives to come to the table and bargain with us in good faith because they haven’t been,” Ellengard said. “We need them to show up.”
In a statement, Kaiser Permanente said it was disappointed that union leaders chose to strike, knowing the potential impact on patient care. The hospital said it has contingency plans in place to maintain patient care, but some pharmacies would be closed and laboratory services may be delayed.
The strike is planned to last three days but could be extended, the union said.
