LMP Concepts

Our 2012 National Agreement established the conditions for creating the healthiest workforce in the industry.

One of the key innovations in the 2012 National Agreement is the Total Health Incentive Plan, a voluntary program that rewards employees for collective participation in confidential health screenings and improvements. 

The 2010 agreement includes uniform performance goals and metrics for unit-based teams, an enhanced sick leave cash-out option and stable funding for workforce development trust funds.

If you print the PDF out on 8.5" x 11" paper, each sheet will have one two-page spread of the bound contract. 

“The No. 1 reason for the success of our teams has been personal engagement,” says Alan Kroll, a primary care area administrator in Colorado who co-sponsors nine unit-based teams with his labor and physician partners. “Everyone needs to buy into the process to make partnership work.”

Building engagement and ensuring a consistent work experience have been goals of the Labor Management Partnership since the beginning. But, at the same time, there’s been a good deal of variation around these efforts from location to location across Kaiser Permanente, to the frustration of many managers, workers, and KP members and patients.

That’s why the 2015 National Agreement mandates partnership training for everyone, including the mid-level managers and union leaders who guide others. Early versions of the partnership training for mid-level leaders, which will be available this year, have gotten high marks from UBT sponsors and other leaders who have taken it. 

Consistency counts

The agreement calls for “a learning system that supports sustained behavior change, partnership and performance.” This includes joint training and refresher courses—delivered in-person
and/or online—to “achieve the same partnership and employment experience wherever one works in KP.” 

The new training for mid-level leaders will include segments on: interest-based problem solving examining the forces that support or undermine partnership core partnership behaviors and principles the strategic importance of the LMP 

Joint training is key 

The programs are designed to develop successful leaders who can model partnership and spread successful practices—and to ensure that the managers or union representatives helping teams have what they need to support those teams.

“It is very powerful for managers and union leaders to be in training together,” Kroll says. “It sends the message that everyone is important, and sets a foundation to work from when an issue gets stuck.”

The training served as a reminder that good partnership practices also are good leadership practices. 

“People want to hear from their leaders,” he says, and to “know what issues we are dealing with and that we can help remove obstacles.”

See the 2015 National Agreement, section 1.E, Education and Training (pages 31–33) for additional information.

Our 2000 National Agreement created the joint LMP Trust Fund. It also created the Performance Sharing Program. It began with these prophetic words:

"This National Agreement was created through an extraordinary collaboration with the input of hundreds of Kaiser Permanente employees at every level. We created this document the way we will work in the future—jointly. The Agreement embodies our collective vision for Kaiser Permanente. The language of this National Agreement cannot begin to fully capture the energy and collective insights of the hundreds of people working long hours to establish this framework. But as work units apply these principles, we trust that their commitment and expertise will make our vision a reality."

Beyond excellent wages and benefits, the 2015 Coalition National Agreement sets industry-leading standards for quality, service, affordability, workplace health and safety, and professional development. Coalition union members, their managers, and the physicians who work with them should read the agreement and be familiar with its intentions and the path it lays out for achieving high-quality, affordable heatlh care while creating a great place to work. 

Silbia Espinoza, RN, strives to climb any mountain. Literally.

“I’m not what you would call a ‘normal’ person,” Espinoza says with a laugh. “I work a 12-hour shift and go straight to the gym. I can’t work out for less than an hour and 10 minutes!”

Espinoza, a UNAC/UHHP member who works in Southern California at the Baldwin Park Medical Center Intensive Care Unit, has been her department’s health and safety champion for two years.

Making wellness routine

“My manager, Celso Silla, volunteered me to be the champ,” she says. “Now people are always asking me when we can go out on walks and hikes.”

For example, one Saturday morning early last year, she and 14 co-workers, outfitted with sunscreen, water, protein bars and hats, took a steep, six-mile hike to and from the Hollywood sign. “It was fun!” she says.

They also work wellness into their daily routine. “Even when we attended a nursing conference, we decided to power walk instead of taking Uber,” she says. “People said afterward they had never lost weight by being at a conference.”

Remedy for stress

Espinoza’s drive to workout comes in part from the demands of her job. “Working in the ICU is very stressful. I have all this energy after work,” she says. “After working out I go home calmer and can think clearly.”

One change Espinoza has seen in her two years as a champ is healthier snacks at meetings and in the break room. Fresh fruits and veggies have replaced cookies and doughnuts.

“I like that I can be a role model,” Espinoza says. “I like the results I see in myself, and I feel great that my co-workers tell me how much weight they’ve lost or how many steps they’ve completed. All any of us needs is someone to encourage and guide us.”