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31,000 Nurses and Health Care Workers Strike at Kaiser Permanente

01.30.26

Values
Dignity & Respect
Empowerment
Solidarity

In the largest strike of health care professionals this year, 31,000 frontline registered nurses and health care professionals walked out on Monday, January 26 at more than two dozen Kaiser Permanente hospitals and hundreds of clinics across California and Hawaii. The Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike will continue until an agreement is reached.

On the picket lines, health care workers will call attention to what’s at stake in settling a fair contract: the growing crisis caused by Kaiser’s failure to invest in safe staffing levels, timely access to quality care, and fair wages for frontline caregivers.

The health care workers, who are members of United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP), had been bargaining with Kaiser since May 2025. In December, Kaiser management left the table and negotiations stalled. The union filed an unfair labor practice (ULP) charge against Kaiser at the National Labor Relations Board, alleging the employer unlawfully walked away from the table and also attempted to bypass the agreed-upon national bargaining process. Kaiser’s illegal conduct badly undermined the bargaining process established in federal law.

Even as some talks are slated to continue, frontline caregivers are prepared to fight to protect patient care and restore respect for caregivers.

“We’re not going on strike to make noise. We’re striking because Kaiser has committed serious unfair labor practices and because Kaiser refuses to bargain in good faith over staffing that protects patients, workload standards that stop moral injury, and the respect and dignity that Kaiser caregivers have been denied for far too long,” said Charmaine S. Morales, RN, President of UNAC/UHCP.

“Striking is the lawful power of working people, and we are prepared to use it on behalf of our profession and patients.”

CORE ISSUES DRIVING THE CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS:

Kaiser’s unfair labor practices: Kaiser is unlawfully using a pretext about the union’s lawful and federally protected speech and conduct to stall negotiations, and to bypass the established national bargaining process.

Safe staffing: Short staffing and rising workloads are causing dangerous delays in care, higher risk of errors, and burnout. Kaiser’s proposed wage and benefit cuts will drive more clinicians out — making the staffing crisis worse.

Fair wages and economic security: Kaiser’s proposals are hitting newly organized Kaiser professionals — including northern California Certified Nurse-Midwives — with wage cuts tied to joining our union, and pay changes that mean longer hours for less pay. Kaiser is also refusing pay parity for Northern California Physician Assistants compared with Northern California Nurse Practitioners, even as the cost of housing, food, and health care keeps climbing.

Retirement and benefits security: Kaiser is seeking major reductions to benefits and retirement — including active medical coverage, pension benefits, and “Plan B” — that would fall heavily on newly organized groups, including Northern California Certified Nurse-Midwives, Northern California Physician Assistants, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, and Child Life Specialists. These are takeaways that undermine long-term stability for caregivers.