Tens of thousands of Kaiser Permanente nurses are threatening to walk off the job despite a proposed 21% wage increase offered by the California healthcare giant.
The strike, set to begin at 7 a.m. Monday, would take vital hospital workers off hospital floors in the Golden State and Hawaii until a contract agreement with their union is reached, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Members of the United Nurses Association of California/Union of Health Care Professionals include registered nurses, nurse anesthetists, midwives, rehab therapists, physician assistants, pharmacists, physician assistants and other specialties.
Union members say the strike is centered around Kaiser’s failure to invest in safe and adequate staffing levels, timely access to quality care and fair wages for caregivers, according to the Times.
In an effort to prevent the walkouts, Kaiser proposed a 21.5% wage increase, but the the union says that Kaiser refused to bargain in good faith.
“Our focus remains on reaching agreements that recognize the vital contributions of our employees while ensuring excellent, affordable care,” Kaiser management said in a statement to the Times.
“We have 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.”
Charmaine S. Morales, president of UNAC/UHCP, said the nurses are “not going on strike to make noise.”
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“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,” she told the Times.
The union has filed an unfair labor practice charge against Kaiser with the National Labor Relations Board with allegations that they walked away from the bargaining table and didn’t adhere to national bargaining practices. Negotiations have appeared to stall at the end of 2025, in a process that spanned about 8 months, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The strikes are scheduled to take place outside Kaiser hospitals and clinics across California and Hawaii.
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