SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Thousands of Kaiser Permanente mental health workers in Southern California are set to strike starting Monday, Oct. 21, after the union and Kaiser management did not reach an agreement.
Nearly 2,400 Kaiser mental health professionals in Southern California, from Bakersfield to San Diego — including therapists, psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, medicine counselors, licensed clinical counselors, and marriage and family therapists — are set to start an open-ended strike on Monday to demand that Kaiser fix insufficient staffing issues in its behavioral health system that causes patients to wait long amounts of time for care.
Daily picket lines and rallies will be held outside Kaiser facilities in Los Angeles, San Diego, Bakersfield, Orange County, and the Inland Empire. Picket lines will be in place from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. during the first week of the strike, and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. each week after that. Click here for a list of picket line locations.