HONOLULU (Island News) — Kaiser Permanente executives received a strike notice that nurses and health care workers will go on an unfair labor practice strike on Jan. 26 at hospitals in Hawaii and California.
The United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) delivered a 10-day strike notice to Kaiser Permanente executives on Thursday. 31,000 Kaiser frontline registered nurses and health professionals are set to strike about unfair labor practice starting Monday, Jan. 26, at more than two dozen hospitals and clinics across San Diego, Honolulu, Oakland, San Diego and Los Angeles.
Kaiser Permanente workers in Hawaii are set to strike about unfair labor practice later this month. The United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals delivered a 10-day strike notice to Kaiser Permanente executives that 31,000 Kaiser frontline registered nurses and health professionals in Hawaii and California will begin a strike on Monday, Jan. 26.
UNAC/UHCP said workers are demanding safe staffing levels, timely access to quality care, fair wages and respect at the bargaining table. The strike notice follows a new report the union released that outlines how Kaiser prioritizes profits over patients by putting billions of dollars towards reserves and questionable financial investments, while patients are being harmed by chronic understaffing and delayed access to care.
UNAC/UHCP’s contract with Kaiser expired on Sept. 30, 2025 and the union previously went on a five-day strike in October. Negotiations have been stalled for over a month and the union filed an unfair labor practice charge at the National Labor Relations Board against Kaiser. The charge comes from allegations that Kaiser attempted to bypass the agreed-upon national bargaining process and interfere with good-faith negotiations that were in motion since May 2025.
“We’re not going on strike to make noise,” said Charmaine S. Morales, RN, President of UNAC/UHCP. “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.”
UNAC/UHCP named these core issues driving the strike:
Safe staffing: Health care worker shortages and escalating workloads are contributing to dangerous delays in care, increased risk of error and burnout across critical clinical roles.Fair wages and economic security: Kaiser’s offer doesn’t keep up with the skyrocketing cost of housing, food and health care. Years of stagnant wages are driving health workers out of the profession, worsening staffing issues across the system.Retirement security: Many professionals lack pensions. After a lifetime of physically demanding work, caregivers deserve dignity and stability in retirement.Respect at the bargaining table: Kaiser is using a feigned concern about the union’s lawful and protected communication to halt negotiations, sidestep the bargaining structure and pressure union decision-making outside of the established process.
“Kaiser can end this whenever they choose by coming back to the table and bargaining in good faith,” Morales continued. “Until they do, we are done waiting. Striking is the lawful power of working people, and we are prepared to use it on behalf of our profession and patients.”
Kaiser Permanente Hawaii confirmed that hospitals will remain open and operational.
