Kaiser Permanente Workers Rebel Against Two-Tier Wage System (1)

More than 30,000 Kaiser Permanente workers on the brink of a strike are motivated by a grievance that’s factored into much of the recent labor unrest nationwide—a proposed two-tier wage system that would pay starting workers less than their more experienced colleagues.

Kaiser’s plan would slash pay between 26% and 39% for new workers, union leaders say, making it all but impossible for the company to fill a void of personnel at its hospitals and clinics. Striking workers at John Deere similarly rejected a proposed contract that would have widened an existing two-tier system, and 1,400 Kellogg’s workers who also ...