Kaiser National Agreement Reopener Approved by Huge Margin – October 13, 2008

October 2008

The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions (of which UNAC/UHCP is a part) and the Kaiser Permanente Partnership Group (the senior leadership team of health plan and physician executives) have approved the 2008 reopener of the 2005 National Agreement.

The union vote was overwhelming in favor of the agreement, passing it by a 96 percent margin. As part of the 2005 National Agreement, the reopener focused on across-the-board wage increases and retiree medical benefits for Coalition-represented employees. Improvements took effect as of October 1, and run through the remaining two years of the 2005 National Agreement.

The Common Issues Committee, a group of 44 KP and Union Coalition leaders, made additional agreements on performance improvement and KP growth strategies.

"This agreement is very positive and principled," said John August, executive director of the Union Coalition. "In some tough economic times for everyone, we've shown that workers, managers and physicians can come together, build on our strengths and be a model for health care in our country."

The agreement provides a series of wage increases for all Union Coalition employees, to take effect between October 2008 and October 2010. UNAC/UHCP members received details about the wage and retiree medical benefit improvement in the mail with their ballots in late September.

--Adapted from the Labor Management Partnership website, www.lmpartnership.org