Operating Engineers brace for strike at Kaiser Permanente

Strike notice was recently served on Kaiser Permanente Northwest by 52 members of Operating Engineers Local 701. The strike is set to begin Sept. 20 and would affect Kaiser hospitals and clinics from Longview to Salem.

The engineers' bargaining unit has already voted down two contract offers. Talks are continuing with the aid of a mediator.

Wage equity with other hospital engineers is a priority goal in this contract, the union said.

Business Representative Tom Lindberg said Kaiser engineers have remained at the bottom of the wage survey for represented hospitals for a number of years. The average hourly wage there is $18.76.

Actuaries have been called in to determine the value of company-sponsored retirement medical coverage as it figures into the wage offer computation.

Annual mandatory testing is also a major issue in the contract. While testing would not cause current engineers to lose their jobs, it could lead to a permanent wage freeze if an engineer fails the test, Lindberg said. Under the plan, hiring for new employees would be determined by test scores.

"Clearly, the inability of engineers to approve either of Kaiser's offers this go-round is a carry-over of hard feelings from the last contract negotiations in 1996," Lindberg said. "In that contract, the engineers narrowly accepted a wage offer of 2 percent, 1 percent, zero percent."

The old contract expired July 31.