About one thousand healthcare workers in the Baltimore area will consider going on strike as early as Oct. 1 if Kaiser Permanente and the union representing some of its employees can’t come to a contract agreement by the end of the month.

Kaiser’s presence in the Maryland area is relatively small, but has grown in recent years with a recent 222,000 square foot facility in Timonium.

The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions and Kaiser Permanente have been in national contract negotiations since April.

The union says Kaiser is not doing enough to rectify staffing issues.

“The biggest issue we have to solve at Kaiser is the chronic understaffing we face in our facilities,” the coalition wrote in a press release. “Eleven percent of coalition positions are vacant and the average vacancy takes 80 days to fill.”

The union also said workers are underpaid and that Kaiser needs to make more of an investment in educating and training future healthcare workers.

"Many of our health care workers have to have two jobs just to support themselves, or to be able to support their families," said Linda Bridges, the president of the Office & Professional Employees International Union, Local 2, which represents Kaiser employees in the mid-Atlantic.

Bridges said workers are polling well over 95% in favor of authorizing a strike.

About 75% of Kaiser’s workforce is represented by unions. Kaiser says strikes are a common bargaining tactic.

“This tactic does not reflect any breakdown in bargaining, nor does it indicate a strike is imminent or will happen at all,” the company wrote in a statement last month. “It is a disappointing action considering our progress at the bargaining table. It does not reflect our commitment to reaching an agreement that ensures we can continue to provide market-competitive pay and outstanding benefits.”

The coalition recently said they are nowhere near a resolution. The two parties must come to an agreement before Sept. 30, when the current contract expires.