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More than 300 Kaiser Permanente Hawaii union employees are planning to walk off the job Thursday at clinics on Oahu to protest several initiatives being implemented by the state’s largest health maintenance organization.
A rally also is scheduled to be held from 7:45 to 9:30 a.m. Thursday at Kaiser’s Moana-lua Medical Center, according to Unite Here Local 5.
Unite Here said it is demanding that Kaiser assign fair workloads so workers can do their jobs properly. The union also wants the health care provider to provide adequate staffing, hire more staff to allow workers to take vacations, and respect workers.
Workers on Maui also will be protesting in front of the Wailuku clinic.
Kaiser spokeswoman Laura Lott said the company has contacted everyone who has an appointment at one of the affected clinics and that they’ve been given a choice to reschedule their appointment to another clinic or reschedule their appointment for a different day.
"We’ve been negotiating with Local 5 for some time," Lott said. "We’re negotiating in good faith and would like to resolve things at the negotiating table."
