Kaiser Permanente Union Votes No Confidence in CEO—Classic Hits 100.7 KLOG News

Back in October there was a five-day strike — now the union is calling for Kaiser Permanente’s board to consider removing its top executive. In what the union called “an unmistakable message,” a majority of Kaiser Permanente’s unionized health care workers have taken a vote of no confidence in CEO Greg Adams.

The Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, which represents just under 4,000 Kaiser employees in Southwest Washington and Oregon — including hundreds at the Longview Clinic — says the vote reflects deepening dissatisfaction as contract talks continue. Negotiations have been underway since September 30th.

In a letter to Kaiser’s board, union president Sarina Roher said Kaiser under Adams has “drifted away” from the principles of the labor-management partnership that once made the system a national model. She said staffing vacancy rates have “soared,” morale has “plummeted,” and patient access is “increasingly at risk.”

The union is asking the board to order an independent investigation into Adams’ fitness to continue leading the organization, citing what it calls unprecedented labor unrest, the erosion of partnership structures, and centralized decision-making. It also wants stronger oversight to ensure Kaiser settles fair national and local contracts and for managers at the bargaining table to have the authority to resolve issues in good faith.

Union leaders say Kaiser is still refusing to address a staffing crisis and low wages, and that caseloads are too high.

The union also says that under Adams’ time as CEO since 2019 they have had some of the largest strikes in company history. They say it has been a period that has led to deterioration of their once-renowned labor-management partnership.