Kaiser Permanente to layoff 61 SEIU-UHW employees at Downey facility

SEIU-UHW employees intend to protest at tonight’s city council meeting in the city of Downey.  Last month Kaiser Permanente sent notice to 61 employees, in their Downey facility, of impending layoffs despite seeing a 22% increase of profits in 2017 and having $28 billion dollars in reserves.  The notice affects eight job classifications responsible for loading and shipping medication and other medical supplies to Kaiser facilities across the United States. Affected employees include receiving clerks, warehouse workers, housekeeping attendants, truck drivers and regional couriers. 

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Many of the effected KP employees and their families will descend upon the regular city council meeting to implore the mayor and council members to intervene on their behalf.

2UrbanGirls has contacted the City Clerk’s office to obtain the mayor and council’s campaign finance forms and Form 700s to ascertain whether any of them have received campaign contributions from the behemoth healthcare provider.

“Kaiser Permanente is more profitable than ever and yet they want to kick us and our families to the curb,” said Steve Allman, a 16-year Kaiser Permanente employee whose job at a Downey warehouse may be eliminated. “I have four family members who rely on my paycheck and I’m not sure how we’re going to get by if I lose my job.”

Kaiser  plans to outsource 94 warehouse jobs in Northern California, and wants to relocate 700 employees at call centers in Los Angeles, Baldwin Park and Woodland Hills to other areas of the state where workers will earn $2 per hour less.

The outsourcing comes even as Kaiser Permanente’s revenue increased 22 percent in 2017 and the company has $28 billion in reserves. Kaiser also plans to outsource 94 warehouse jobs in Northern California, and wants to relocate 700 employees at call centers in Los Angeles, Baldwin Park and Woodland Hills to other areas of the state where workers will earn $2 per hour less.

More than 55,000 Kaiser Permanente employees in California are members of SEIU-UHW, including 2,386 at Kaiser Permanente Downey.