GROUNDHOG DAY

On February 2, 2025, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter.  The CRNA bargaining team, unfortunately, lived through yet another Groundhog Day this past Thursday. 

Here’s what happened:

On October 17, Kaiser management presented a proposal on Job Bidding - a topic we had already been working on for several sessions.  After discussing it at the table, our team took the proposal back to caucus, carefully reworking a counter-proposal, and presented the counter at our next session on October 30.  We engaged in a productive  discussion for 90 minutes and by the end of the day, we agreed there was just one small area to iron out. Management stated ‘we’ll get something back to you ASAP.’ It felt as though we were a few words away from a tentative agreement on the topic.

Fast forward nearly five months later. 

On February 27, I drove two and a half  hours through traffic to arrive in San Jose by 9am.  My bargaining team colleague, Chris Sato, spent 4 hours traveling from Sacramento.  After  caucusing with the UNAC/UHCP team until 11am, Management was finally ready to meet only to pass the EXACT SAME proposal they gave us on October 17.  Then, with feigned curiosity, they asked us  what our ‘sticking points’ on the proposal were.  

What was the point of the October 17 discussion or the work we did in caucus ? of the October 30 meeting?  Why did we just spend hours in traffic, hours in caucus, time away from our jobs and our families, to sit at the table and be served this baloney?

Our members see the disrespect. We feel the frustration.

When I relate the events above to my colleagues, they are infuriated.  They see the disrespect.   They feel the frustration.

Our bargaining team has lived through this same scenario over and over again for the past ten months. We are caught in an endless loop—a real-life Groundhog Day.

But this last Thursday, I made a decision: I dropped the anger and disbelief.  I accepted the reality that bargaining with Kaiser right now is nothing more than  Kabuki Theatre - a scripted performance.  Our management counterparts are like waiters selling food prepared in a kitchen around the block where they have no control.  They can’t change it or explain why it tastes the way it does.   Yet they pretend to be the cooks, and that we can all work together to create the menu.  In reality, the cake is already baked, and Kaiser assumes that we  will eat anything put in front of us if we get hungry enough.  

The good news? We know where real power lies.

The leadership ABOVE Northern California management, including CEO Greg Adams, publicly support the Labor Management Partnership and the labor that underlies Kaiser’s success.  If we shine light on  the stone-walling happening in Northern California bargaining, the people sitting across from us at the table will face pressure from above to stop the theatrics and to show up to truly bargain.  Not only that, we will send a clear message to  management at all levels that we are united and know our true worth.

Here’s our next step:

Your CRNA bargaining team is focused on methodically refining our proposals and being ready to move forward once that pressure forces management to finally negotiate.

But pressure does not happen on its own. It is on us -  OUR UNION, you and me - that to turn up the heat.  We will expose Kaiser’s disrespect through unified action, including our informational picket on March 11.

Right now, bargaining might feel like Groundhog Day.  It might feel like Kabuki Theatre.  One thing is certain: we won’t win a fair contract until Kaiser is compelled to bargain in good faith.  It’s time to raise the heat.