Kaiser Sues Calif. Nurses Union, Claiming Recent Strike Violated Contract

Kaiser Permanente has filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming that the California Nurses Association breached a no-strike policy under a contract that went into effect Sept. 1, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.

The lawsuit comes in response to a statewide walkout that CNA participated in from Sept. 22 to Sept. 23. The strike involved as many as 17,000 Kaiser nurses, 5,000 Sutter Health nurses, 700 Children's Hospital Oakland nurses and other medical professionals (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 11/18).

Details of the Lawsuit

According to Kaiser, the contract with CNA included a "mutually agreed upon provision that prohibits work stoppages and strikes for the life of the three-year contract" (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 11/18).

Kaiser said that it filed a grievance against CNA on Oct. 18 and requested that the union address the issue under the contract's dispute-resolution process (Sacramento Business Journal, 11/18). The union rejected the request on Nov. 7 on the grounds that the no-strike provision did not apply because only the union has the right to file a complaint. CNA added that the provision also did not apply because it walked out in sympathy with a National Union of Healthcare Workers strike.

Kaiser is asking the U.S. District Court for Northern California to order the nurses association into arbitration for the alleged contract violation (San Francisco Business Times, 11/18).