In May 2024, 75,000 Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers in California and Oregon, members of the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), launched a strike to protest proposed cuts to performance-sharing bonuses. Kaiser Permanente, a non-profit healthcare giant, sought to reduce the bonus pool by $80 million, impacting worker income and potentially undermining healthcare services. The strike involved a wide range of employees, including medical assistants, technicians, and clerical staff.
The article argues that the SEIU-UHW leadership, under the direction of Dave Regan, intentionally sabotaged the strike to prevent it from gaining momentum and challenging the interests of Kaiser Permanente. It claims that Regan isolated the California and Oregon workers, preventing a broader, system-wide strike, and ultimately pushed for a weak settlement that failed to fully restore the proposed bonus cuts.
The author critiques the union’s tactics, highlighting its close relationship with Kaiser management and its history of suppressing worker dissent. It asserts that the SEIU leadership presented a tentative agreement that many workers opposed, forcing them to vote under pressure. It also stresses that the strike demonstrated the potential power of the working class while simultaneously exposing the efforts of both the ruling elite and the SEIU bureaucracy to stifle worker mobilization and protect corporate interests.
find the original article here: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/05/01/rgyf-m01.html