DENVER — Workers at Kaiser Permanente put their employer on notice Friday, saying they'll be striking from Oct. 4 through Oct. 6 if a deal on their contract isn't reached.
The current contract is set to expire at the end of the month.
But the potential strike at Kaiser is just the latest in a series of labor disputes sweeping the nation — from the writer's strike to UAW workers. Labor experts say what happens here is likely to influence labor relations in the years to come.
"It takes a lot of nerve to go out on strike. There's no doubt about that," said Ahmed White, Nicholas Rosenbaum Professor of Law Chair at CU Boulder.
Around the US, people are paying close attention to the labor disputes. First, the writer's guild took on the Hollywood studios. Next, the United Auto Workers took on the country's three largest automakers. Now, as bargaining continues between Kaiser Permanente and its coalition of unions, including SEIU Local 105 here in Colorado, the threat of a strike hangs heavy over health care.
"We are seeing now a bit of a trend," White said. "We haven't seen this many strikes in a couple of decades nor have we seen this much attention directed at labor and labor conflicts in a couple of decades."
And when it come to this latest surge in strikes, White said it's important to remember unions don't represent nearly as many Americans as they did in decades past.
He said previously, that massive strength made unions a force during strikes or negotiations. Right now, around 10% of the American workforce is unionized.
White said gone are the days when thousands of strikes could happen in a year and people nationwide knew labor leaders. But that, he said, could benefit those striking now.
"Labor has a lot of energy behind it. It's been many years since those of us who watched this have seen this level of energy and level of interest and frankly, level of sympathy on the part of people in the public," White said.
This latest surge in strikes, he believes, is fueled by the drive from workers to keep up with changing technology and be compensated fairly, the worker shortage allowing employees to feel more secure in their jobs, and inflation taking a big cut out of people's paychecks and workers wanting that share back. But it's not without risk.
"And for the workers, the main weapon is the threat of a strike or an actual strike," White said. "For employers, it's a lockout or more frequently their ability to withstand a strike, to wait out workers who go out on strike."
Who will end out on top, White said, isn't clear but he believes what happens with the writer's guild, UAW and possibly, Kaiser Permanente has the ability to impact the labor movement down the road.
"How they play out is going to have a lot to do with where we are with this issue in the months and years ahead," White said.
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