 Kaiser Permanente has reached a tentative agreement with its workers on a new four-year contract, averting planned strikes across the country. The contract agreement affects 83,000 workers in seven states – including Virginia and Maryland -- as well as the District of Columbia. The agreement includes across-the-board raises of 3% a year, protects healthcare benefits, including fully-paid family coverage, makes no changes to pensions or retiree medical coverage and insures no two-tier wage or benefits for new hires; all future Kaiser workers get the same wage rates and benefits as existing workers. The deal also includes strong protections against subcontracting and outsourcing jobs. Roughly 57,000 of the coalition’s membership are represented by Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West. Other unions in the coalition are the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers and the Office & Professional Employees International Union. If ratified by coalition members, the contract will take effect Oct. 1.
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