In the largest strike of healthcare workers in U.S. history, 75,000 Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers across the country walked off the job this week, seeking higher pay, better staffing, improvements in their pension plans and other benefits. We go to the picket line in Clackamas, Oregon, to speak with Meg Niemi, president of SEIU Local 49, and Keven Dardon, a patient access representative and a member of the union local’s bargaining team, on the final day of the strike outside of Kaiser Permanente’s Sunnyside Medical Center. “Kaiser can do better,” says Dardon, explaining how the union’s demands for better working conditions will allow its employees to provide patients with better care. Adds Niemi, “If we cannot reach an agreement, we’ll be out here again.”
