DOWNEY - Mental health workers from Kaiser Permanente took to the streets outside the hospital with protest signs in hand on Tuesday, claiming under-staffing issues at Kaiser facilities were affecting patient care.

According to the National Union of Healthcare Workers – the union currently involved in a labor dispute with the HMO – patients are forced to wait upwards of a month or more for therapy appointments.

The two sides have been in contract negotiations since June, ABC reports.

The strike in Downey is just one of a hundred currently taking place across California, which began on Monday and includes over 4000 employees.

In a statement, Kaiser refuted many of the union’s claims, saying,

“We are disappointed the leadership of the National Union of Healthcare Workers would ask our highly valued mental health staff to go out on strike, when we’ve been in active negotiations since the summer, having met in 16 bargaining sessions over 5 months, and with two more bargaining sessions scheduled for next week.

“The union’s principal demands at the bargaining table have not been about improving care and access, but are about gaining even higher wages and benefits and demanding changes to performance standards that would reduce, not increase, the availability of mental health care for our members.”

It also adds that the hospital has increased the number of therapists on staff by 30 percent since 2015, and invested more than $175 million to build new care sites and refurbish others.

The statement also took a shot right back at the NUHW, saying,

“It’s particularly disheartening that the union leadership would call this strike during the holiday season, when many of our patients with mental health needs may be at their most vulnerable. Even worse, we have just learned that the union is using pressure tactics on community-based caregivers to refuse to treat Kaiser Permanente patients during the strike. This is irresponsible and dangerously insensitive to the needs of people who find themselves in need of mental health care services during the week of December 10.”

According to Kaiser, the current proposal to Union workers offers guaranteed wage increases, and that the recently concluded contract also included three years of guaranteed wage increases, as well as bonuses.

Kaiser remained operational throughout the strike.

This is only the latest in a string protests that have plagued Kaiser since members of the Service Employees International Union Healthcare Workers picketed in February of this year, pushing back on the consortium’s decision to outsource over 61 jobs.

Those protests traveled to city hall in April, and most recently resulted in the arrest of 13 individuals on Labor Day.

Mental health workers strike outside of Kaiser