The union representing 31,000 nurses, pharmacists, and other health professionals issued a strike notice Wednesday, with an open-ended walkout scheduled to begin January 26 at Kaiser hospitals and clinics across California and Hawaii.
Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California regional headquarters is located in Pasadena.
The action follows a five-day strike in October that ended without a new contract—and negotiations that have remained stalled since mid-December.
Pasadena-area Kaiser members who need hospital services typically use the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center or Baldwin Park Medical Center. Both are on the list of picket locations.
“We’re not going on strike to make noise,” said Charmaine S. Morales, a registered nurse and president of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals. “We’re authorizing a strike to win staffing that protects patients, win workload standards that stop moral injury, and win the respect and dignity Kaiser has denied for far too long.”
The strike notice, required by law at least 10 days before a healthcare work stoppage, sets up a confrontation between one of California’s largest healthcare providers and the workers who staff its facilities. One in four California residents receive care through Kaiser Permanente.
At the center of the dispute are wages and working conditions. The union is seeking a 25% wage increase over four years, citing years of stagnant pay during high inflation. Kaiser has offered 21.5% over the same period and says its workers already earn 16% more than peers at other healthcare systems.
Kaiser says it paused national bargaining on December 14 after an incident it described as threatening.
“We were compelled to pause national bargaining because of an incident with the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals,” Kaiser said in a statement. The company alleges a union leader claimed to have damaging information about the organization and threatened to release it.
The union flatly denied the allegation. “That claim is incorrect, and Kaiser is aware it’s incorrect,” said Anjetta Thackeray, a union spokeswoman. “There was no blackmail or threat.”
The union filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board in December, alleging Kaiser attempted to bypass the agreed-upon national bargaining process.
Kaiser said its facilities would remain open during the strike and that patients should keep their scheduled appointments unless contacted by their provider. During the October strike, the company brought in nearly 6,000 contract nurses and clinicians.
The October walkout lasted five days and involved roughly 46,000 workers across multiple Alliance of Health Care Unions member locals. This time, only UNAC/UHCP has issued a strike notice—but the lack of a declared end date signals potential for a longer disruption.
Morales said the decision rests with Kaiser.
“Kaiser can end this whenever they choose by coming back to the table and bargaining in good faith,” she said. “Until they do, we are done waiting.”
Kaiser members in the Pasadena area can find updates on care impacts at kp.org.
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