#NUHW

Kaiser mental health therapists in Hawaiʻi voted overwhelmingly Saturday to ratify a new three-year contract, effectively ending a 172-day strike–the longest by mental health care workers in US history, according to union representatives.

Mental health clinicians represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers announced they have reached a tentative agreement with Kaiser Permanente on a three-year contract. This is expected to bring to an end a nearly six-month strike.

Striking psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses and chemical dependency counselors say the ratio of mental health care workers to patients is not enough, “resulting in dangerously long wait times that far exceed clinical standards.”