Thousands of nurses, health care workers in California remain on strike

LOS ANGELES – Kaiser Permanente nurses and health care workers will remain on picket lines Monday in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas as their  open-ended strike alleging unfair labor practices amid prolonged contract talks enters its fourth week.

The roughly 31,000 members of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals vowed to stay on strike until a fair contract agreement is reached.

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

You may like: Fil-Am leads strike launched by thousands of nurses in California and Hawaii

Photo from UNAC/UHCP/Facebook

Picketing resumed at 9 a.m. Monday.

“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 Filipino American registered nurse Charmaine Morales, president of UNAC/UHCP.

Photo from UNAC/UHCP/Facebook

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

Kaiser Permanente issued a statement saying it has “proposed 21.5% wage increases — our strongest national bargaining offer ever — and we are prepared to close agreements at local tables now. Employees deserve their raises and patients deserve our full attention, not prolonged disputes.”

Photo from UNAC/UHCP/Facebook

Camille Applin-Jones, senior vice president at Kaiser Permanente Southern California, described Kaiser’s latest contract offer as “one of the strongest nursing contract offers in California this year” once step increases and local adjustments are factored in.

“Despite the union’s claims, this strike is about wages. This open-ended strike by UNAC/UHCP 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,” Applin-Jones said.

The union filed an unfair labor practice charge against Kaiser with the National Labor Relations Board alleging the company walked away from the bargaining table in December and has attempted to bypass the agreed-upon national bargaining process. The union has been bargaining with Kaiser since last May.

“With the strike holding strong, pressure is mounting on Kaiser Permanente to meet these demands and stop prolonged understaffing that increasingly harms both workers and patients,” union officials said Monday.

“If Kaiser is truly committed to its nonprofit mission, it must invest its resources in what actually creates *healthy communities:* a healthy workforce, safe patient-to-staff ratios, retention, training, and working conditions that make quality care possible.”

Picket lines continued Monday at Kaiser hospitals and clinics in Northern California, Central California, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties, as well as in Hawaii.

Meanwhile, registered nurses and other licensed medical professionals at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center also began a five-day strike Monday.

Union officials say the workers have been engaged in contract negotiations with management since July 2025 over a litany of issues they say negatively impact their work and their patients, including allegedly unsafe staffing and environmental hazards.

Representatives for Providence did not reply to a request for comment Sunday.

Officials with Service Employees International Union Local 121RN said picket lines were scheduled from 7 a.m. to noon each day this week at the hospital, located at 18321 Clark St.

In Orange County, registered nurses at West Anaheim Medical Center plan to hold a three-day strike beginning Tuesday, according to union officials.

The California Nurses Association said the nurses are striking “to protest the administration’s refusal to address RNs’ deep concerns about patient care, retention and recruitment of nurses, and safe staffing.”

The CNA represents more than 360 nurses at West Anaheim Medical Center who voted to authorize the labor action on Jan. 14.

Picketing will begin Tuesday. The nurses also planned a rally for 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at the hospital, 3033 W. Orange Ave.

The CAN said nurses have been in negotiations for a new contract since February 2025. They also held a one-day strike in August 2025.

Hospital officials could not be reached for comment. (With CNS report)

The post Thousands of nurses, health care workers in California remain on strike appeared first on USNewsRank.