Kaiser reaches tentative deal with union coalition, averting more strikes

• Both the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions and the company thanked acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su for her involvement in reaching the tentative agreement.

Catch up quick: About 75,000 employees at one of the nation's leading nonprofit health care systems went on strike from Oct. 4-6.

• The strike included professionals across fields, including nurses, radiographers, ultrasound sonographers, home health aides and pharmacists.
• The union coalition said earlier this month it would only accept a "unified" wage across all of Kaiser's regions, which includes eight states and Washington, D.C.

Details: The coalition was seeking protections against a widespread staffing shortage that it said creates unsafe conditions for patients.

• The staffing levels "can lead to dangerously long wait times, mistaken diagnosis, and neglect," the coalition said in an earlier statement.

Of note: A potential work stoppage was on the unions' radar from Nov. 1-8, likely avoided with a new contract.

Zoom out: The Kaiser Permanente work stoppage was one of many strikes this summer and fall that underscored a strengthening labor movement across the country.

• Strikes by United Auto Workers members and SAG-AFTRA Hollywood actors are ongoing and regularly escalating.
• More than 11,500 Hollywood writers in the Writers Guild of America ended a strike in September that began in mid-July.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with details throughout. It has been corrected to reflect that radiographers, not radiologists, were included in the strike.