Great, great news

Kaiser Permanente is extending health care coverage for 3,500 locked out hotel workers and their families. This will save lives.

The financial details of the agreement are not being released, but

Casey

said it is estimated that it would cost $4 million to cover health

benefits for

all 4,300 locked-out workers for two months.

The union is

still waiting to

hear back from Chinese Hospital and PacifiCare Health

Systems on whether the

remaining 805 workers covered by those providers also

will see their benefits

extended.



Casey said that the agreement with

Kaiser does not mean that the union

will not ask the San Francisco

Multi-Employer Group, representing the hotels in

the labor dispute, to

release $4 million from a $22 million trust fund to cover

these extended

benefits. He said the request for the funds has gone to

arbitration.



"I hope arbitration rules in our favor and Kaiser will

not be out of

this money," Casey said today.