Kaiser Permanente's healthcare workers voted to ratify a new contract with the hospital chain, the union said on Thursday, ending a months-long negotiation that resulted in the largest recorded strike in the U.S. medical sector.
Physicians and dentists who work for hospitals and clinics run by Los Angeles County and who care for patients in its jails and juvenile facilities are weighing a possible strike over what union officials argue are inadequate benefits that have hampered employee retention and led to alarming levels of vacancies.
When Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law that set a first-in-the-nation minimum wage for healthcare workers, three words in a bill analysis foretold potential concerns about its cost: "Fiscal impact unknown."
Three weeks after Newsom signed into law a bill giving medical employees at least $25 an hour, his administration has an estimated price tag: $4 billion in the 2024-25 fiscal year alone.