SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KCBS)  -- Some 1,200 Kaiser Permanente pharmacists have threatened to walk off the job, calling on Kaiser to improve staffing levels at its 60 northern California pharmacies.

The Guild for Professional Pharmacists set a strike deadline of June 5, delivering a 10-day strike notice on Friday.

During recent contract negotiations, the Guild has asked Kaiser to fill 250 positions currently vacant, about 20 percent of the pharmacist positions in Kaiser’s northern California facilities, said vice-president of the union, Howard Hertz.

“This shortage has lead to essentially unlimited overtime at every Kaiser pharmacy,” Hertz said. “Working conditions and patient safety are threatened by this continuing shortage of pharmacists.”

The pharmacies now negotiating a contract with the Oakland-based health care giant serve about 3.2 million patients, some by mail.

Despite the strike notice delivered on Friday, Hertz said he was optimistic about the next round of talks, scheduled for Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for Kaiser, Alix Sabin, did not anticipate a strike. She said the strike notice simply allowed the hospital to make formal contingency plans in the event of a walkout.

“Our patients all throughout northern California can be assured that we’ll continue to operate the pharmacy programs just as effectively,” Sabin told KCBS reporter Tim Ryan. “Bargaining has been really productive and respectful, and we’re very hopeful that we’ll be able to come to an agreement.”

Besides staffing levels, the union is also pushing for an improved retirement package.

The strike notice comes as Kaiser was forced to close its transplant program, amid a state investigation into paperwork mistakes that delayed transplants for some patients.

(jro)