Employees at Kaiser Hospitals Stage Strike : Labor: At least 46 in Woodland Hills and Panorama City walk out to protest working conditions. The HMO says little disruption occurred.

At least 46 nurses, clinic assistants, switchboard operators and other medical workers mounted a one-day strike Monday against Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Panorama City and Woodland Hills, protesting what they said were unsatisfactory handling of grievances and heavier workloads as the giant health maintenance organization reduces its work force.

Half a dozen nurses also walked out at a Kaiser clinic in Thousand Oaks.

Kaiser representatives said there were few if any disruptions at its medical facilities as a result of the action by members of Service Employees International Union, Local 399. A Kaiser spokeswoman said the strikers’ jobs were performed by administrators and non-union workers.

The union said 78 employees walked out at the 327-bed Panorama City facility, but Kaiser put the figure at 35. The union and Kaiser also disagreed about the number of strikers at Woodland Hills, with Local 399 putting the figure at 13 and Kaiser saying 11.

The walkout occurred as Kaiser and the union resumed negotiations over a new contract for 12,000 Local 399 members in Los Angeles and Orange counties. The previous contract expired in April, and Kaiser said the strike was “a union tactic” designed to attract attention to the talks.

Local 399 spokeswoman Joyce Moscato said workloads have increased dramatically because Kaiser has not filled 1,000 positions left vacant due to layoffs and attrition at facilities in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Kaiser switchboard operators in Panorama City, she said, are upset at being assigned mandatory overtime with little notice, while pediatric nurses there are not being paid for extra duties, and other employees are not allowed to take 15-minute breaks.

At the Woodland Hills hospital, medical records clerks walked out because three positions in their department have not been filled, “wreaking havoc” on their work schedules, Moscato said.

“The reduction in staffing levels . . . has put a tremendous amount of pressure on the remaining employees,” Moscato said, adding that Kaiser subscribers are suffering from longer waits for care as a result.

Moscato said employees also are angry because Kaiser has not been willing to submit grievances to binding arbitration, as was required under the expired contract. Since the contract expired, she said, Kaiser has routinely rejected employee complaints.

Kaiser spokeswoman Kathleen Barco said the managed health care firm reduced its work force by 338 employees last year at all facilities from Bakersfield to San Diego, and that only 75 workers were laid off. The reductions are necessary as Kaiser adjusts to fewer subscribers and tries to make its operations more efficient, Barco said.

Mike McCabe, Kaiser’s labor relations manager, said he was unsure whether the cuts have increased the workload for remaining employees.

“We’re trying our best to do things in ways that are very cost-conscious,” he said. “If that means cutting areas that are not viewed as cost effective, then, yes, we’re probably reducing some” staffing levels and boosting some workloads.

Kaiser spokeswoman Jessica Lott said that although no contract is in force now, Kaiser is adhering to the arbitration clause in the old contract.

Moscato said she was “sure that things didn’t go smoothly” at the struck facilities, but did not know if any patients were turned away or did not get adequate care.