Kaiser Permanente is suing the California Nurses Association saying it violated terms of the current contract when the union authorized a sympathy strike last September.
Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and the Permanente Medical Group filed its lawsuit last week in federal court asking the court to force the union into arbitration over a one-day, northern-California-wide strike that took place Sept. 22-23.
[See also: Nurses strike at Kaiser facilities.]
Registered nurses from the CNA – 17,000 of them – went on strike in sympathy with members of the National Union of Healthare Workers (NUHW) and the Stationary Engineers, Local 39 in September in what the NUHW called the largest strike in Kaiser history. A new contract between Kaiser and the CNA had just gone into effect on Sept. 1. That contract, Kaiser says, bars the union from work stoppages and strikes for the three-year life of the contract.
“The exact no-strike contract language states: ‘There shall be no strikes, lockouts or other stoppages, or interruptions of work during the life of this Agreement.’ It covers all strikes, including work stoppages during bargaining, and organized sympathy strikes,” Kaiser said in a press release announcing its lawsuit.
According to the release, Kaiser filed a grievance against the union on Oct. 18, asking to discuss the contract breach. Kaiser said the union replied by saying the no-strike provision did not apply and that per the contract, only the union has the right to file a grievance.
“Kaiser Permanente believes CNA violated its agreement not to strike and also believes it has the right to ask the union to enter into arbitration to resolve such contract breaches,” Kaiser said in its press release.
The press release also says that if the court grants its request for arbitration, Kaiser may seek payment from the union to recover the costs it incurred during the strike, such as the costs of hiring replacement workers.
The CNA didn’t respond to a request for comment but its spokesman, Chuck Idelson, told the San Francisco Business Times that Kaiser is trying to fund its expansion to the East Coast on the backs of its workers.
Follow HFN associate editor Stephanie Bouchard on Twitter @SBouchardHFN.