Kaiser Permanente nurses strike amid union negotiations for better contracts

In the first month of 2026, we are seeing the largest strike of healthcare professionals across the state of California and Hawaii. 

Around 31,000 union members of the United Nurses Associations of California and the Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) took to the picket lines this week to protest unfair labor practices at Kaiser Permanente (KP) hospitals and clinics. According to  (UNAC/UHCP), the strike will continue until a deal has been reached. 

The strike began on Monday after the union had been bargaining with Kaiser Permanente since May, filing an unfair labor practice charge back in December at the National Labor Relations Board against Kaiser Permanente, alleging the employer attempted to bypass the agreed-upon national bargaining process and interfere with good-faith negotiations. 

Registered nurse and president of UNAC/UHCP Charmaine Morales said that union employees are striking not only 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 Morales. 

Union members include registered nurses, pharmacists, nurse anesthetists, nurse practitioners, midwives, physician assistants, rehab therapists, speech language pathologists, dietitians and other specialty health care professionals.

In response to the strike, KP officials responded in a press release that they will keep hospitals and clinics open throughout the strike, but said they already pay workers 16% to 24% more than similar healthcare jobs elsewhere.

Additionally, they said their current offer includes a 21.5% pay increase over the life of the contract with promotions and local pay adjustments included. They say the total increase could average around 30%.

In a written statement by Claudia E. Sarmiento, a spokesperson for Kaiser, she said, “Despite the union's claims, this strike is centered on wage issues. This indefinite UNAC/UHCP strike is unnecessary when such a generous offer is on the table. The strike is designed to disrupt the lives of our patients—the very people we are all here to serve.”

UNAC/UHCP released another press release on the second day of the strike that reads, “The strike affects more than two dozen hospitals and hundreds of clinics, and will continue until Kaiser reaches a fair agreement that protects patients and respects caregivers. This is the largest strike of health care professionals this year.”

Over 45% KP members being served in Southern California are Latinos, according to the Southern California Association of Governments’ census data.