{"id":147254,"date":"2026-01-24T02:28:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T02:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/147254\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T02:28:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T02:28:15","slug":"days-before-strike-begins-kaiser-fires-legal-salvo-to-break-up-nurses-alliance-pasadena-star-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/147254\/","title":{"rendered":"Days before strike begins, Kaiser fires legal salvo to break up nurses alliance \u2013 Pasadena Star News"},"content":{"rendered":"

As 31,000 nurses and healthcare professionals prepare for an open-ended strike beginning Monday, Jan. 26 against Kaiser Permanente, the Oakland-based healthcare system says it has contingency plans in place to provide patient care at medical facilities in California and Hawaii.<\/p>\n

In the days before the strike \u2014 the second since a five-day walkout last October<\/a> \u2014 an independent mediator is helping iron out differences, while Kaiser has crafted its own plan to diminish the union\u2019s bargaining swagger by suing to break up its national alliance.<\/p>\n

The healthcare provider filed a lawsuit against the union<\/a> and its alliance partners this week that would splinter the bargaining process into local contracts so that Kaiser can offer competing compensation packages in order to drive down costs.<\/p>\n

Kaiser is also recruiting thousands of travel nurses to replace the striking workers, according to union officials and social media posts from nurses sharing their upcoming travel plans to California.<\/p>\n

In a statement to the Southern California News Group, Kaiser said it \u201cdoes not make sense to return to a (bargaining) process that has been stalled for months\u201d with the union group that oversees the Western U.S. \u2014 called the United Nurses Associations of California \/ Union of Health Care Professionals, or UNAC\/UHCP.<\/p>\n

Liz Hawkins, a nurse and secretary for UNAC\/UHCP, who has been sitting at the bargaining table with Kaiser since last spring, believes Kaiser is using the lawsuit as a strategy to reduce her union\u2019s clout at the bargaining table.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re saying they are under no obligation to bargain as a group,\u201d Hawkins said. \u201cThey\u2019ve pushed that national agreement to local conversations. We disagree with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also see: Kaiser strike ends without labor agreement for 31,000 healthcare workers<\/a><\/p>\n

As of Sept. 30, 2025, Kaiser\u2019s footprint, which covers the Western states where strikes wrapped up in October, also includes Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Nationwide, Kaiser has 608 medical offices and 40 hospitals.<\/p>\n

In Southern California, where Kaiser operates its regional headquarters in Pasadena, the healthcare provider oversees 16 hospitals, 200 medical offices and 91,900 employees serving 4.9 million members. Northern California has nearly 91,500 employees at 21 hospitals and 203 medical offices serving 4.6 million members.<\/p>\n

UNAC\/UHCP is the largest of the 23 bargaining units in the Alliance of Health Care Unions, a federation of 23 local unions representing more than 60,000 Kaiser employees nationwide, formed to collectively bargain for wages, benefits, working conditions and patient care within Kaiser\u2019s unique National Labor Management Partnership. That alliance is what Kaiser wants to break up.<\/p>\n

The Kaiser Permanente suit, which was filed Wednesday, Jan. 21 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles, alleges the alliance breached its obligations under the national bargaining agreement.<\/p>\n

Also see: Kaiser affiliates will pay $556 million to settle a lawsuit alleging Medicare fraud<\/a><\/p>\n

The suit also says the union has not bargained in good faith, and is \u201cauthorizing repeated strike and picketing actions over unreasonable wage increases\u201d that would not ensure the affordability of healthcare for Kaiser members and the communities served. Kaiser\u2019s lawsuit also cited an 83-page union report accusing it of \u201cfraudulent practices, endangering the health and safety of its patients, and other unethical and unlawful activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t see a path to an agreement through national bargaining,\u201d said Kaiser in its statement on the lawsuit. \u201cBecause it has become clear that the national process is gridlocked, we are moving the remaining unresolved national issues to the local bargaining tables \u2014 the most effective and timely path to secure new contracts, wage increases, and enhanced benefits for our Alliance-represented employees.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is unclear what the lawsuit means for the upcoming strike and future negotiations between Kaiser and individual bargaining units in the alliance.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Mark Ghaly, former state secretary of the Health and Human Services Agency from March 2019 to September 2024, was brought in as an independent mediator in the labor dispute last year as part of talks at the national level with the alliance, said Hal Ruddick, executive director of the Alliance of Health Care Unions. His fees are jointly shared through a labor management partnership trust, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t intend to comment further on the details of his selection, qualifications and appointment, other than to say it was jointly agreed,\u201d Ruddick said.<\/p>\n

Ghaly has previous experience with Kaiser, having played a role in mediating a settlement <\/a>in last year\u2019s strike with Kaiser by 2,400 mental health workers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ghaly previously led the state\u2019s health agency through the pandemic and spearheaded initiatives like CalRx<\/a>, California\u2019s initiative to provide affordable prescription drugs, and Master Plan for Aging, a 10-year blueprint launched in 2021 to restructure state services and policies to support older adults with disabilities and their caregivers.<\/p>\n

Kaiser and the UNAC\/UHCP are negotiating to replace a five-year contract<\/a> that expired Sept. 30. The union is striking for higher wages and benefits and hiring more employees to fill staffing shortages. It initially sought a 38% pay hike over four years and is now seeking a 25% raise. Kaiser has offered a 21.5% pay hike over four years.<\/p>\n

Travel nurses coming<\/p>\n

The healthcare organization also is taking other steps to prepare for Monday\u2019s strike.<\/p>\n

If there is a strike on Monday, Kaiser says some pharmacies may have their hours cut<\/a>, though \u201ccontingency plans\u201d are in place to minimize the impact. Kaiser Permanente already has begun bringing nurses from out-of-state to fill open positions left by striking nurses at short-staffed medical facilities.<\/p>\n

Facebook pages like \u201cStrike Nursing Network<\/a>,\u201d\u00a0 \u201cNurse Jobs<\/a>\u201d and \u201cStrike Nurse\u201d are filled with posts from nurses looking to compare pay, where to go when they arrive in California and when they\u2019re expected to report to their assigned jobs.<\/p>\n

Last October\u2019s strike, the largest ever for Kaiser unions and first since 1980, began with the healthcare giant flying in thousands of replacement staff from around the country to fill critical patient care jobs.<\/p>\n

Pay for those temporary workers ranged from $78-$130 an hour based on the job requirements, according to interviews with healthcare professionals who say they were retained by AMN Healthcare Services Inc., a Dallas-based temporary strike staffing company.<\/p>\n

Some nurses interviewed in October by SCNG complained about delayed assignments for days, credentialing issues, sleeping on the lobby floor of the Hilton Los Angeles Airport along West Century Boulevard, and trouble finding a hotel room due to the crush of traveling nurses brought to the region by Kaiser.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was insane,\u201d said 54-year-old Joani Bailey, a traveling nurse who drove in her GMC Arcadia SUV from northeastern Pennsylvania for the job. Almost immediately after reporting for her first assignment at the Hilton LAX, she and other nurses complained about glitches in the credentialing system that AMN requires in order to get a work assignment. Neither could she book a room as promised because the hotel was full.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was told to sleep at the Walmart (in Hawthorne). It was freezing,\u201d said Bailey. \u201cThese strikers, I get why they are striking. If your granddaughter was in the hospital on a ventilator, wouldn\u2019t you like a skilled nurse to help her?\u201d<\/p>\n

Potential disruptions<\/p>\n

A Kaiser Permanente executive countered that the healthcare provider takes any potential disruption to services seriously, and that its patients are a top priority<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a strike occurs, we have established plans to ensure our members and patients continue to receive safe, high-quality care,\u201d\u00a0said Camille Applin-Jones, senior vice president for Kaiser Permanente Southern California, in a statement. \u201cWe hope our UNAC\/UHCP represented employees will choose not to strike so we can resolve our differences at the bargaining table and remain focused on providing exceptional care to our members and patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Kaiser spokesman declined to comment on the use of travel nurses in the pending strike.<\/p>\n

Frontline registered nurses and health professionals will picket at more than two dozen hospitals and more than 200 clinics \u2014 from Los Angeles and San Diego to Oakland and Honolulu.<\/p>\n

In Southern California, picketing begins at Kaiser Permanente hospitals at 7 a.m. on Monday in Anaheim, Baldwin Park, Downey, Fontana, Irvine, Los Angeles, Ontario, Riverside, South Bay in Harbor City, West Los Angeles and Woodland Hills.<\/p>\n

\"Kaiser<\/p>\n

Kaiser Permanente hospital logo is seen during a nationwide strike, on Oct. 4, 2023, in Moreno Valley, Calif. An estimated 31,000 registered nurses and healthcare professionals plan to strike Kaiser hospitals and medical facilities beginning Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (Watchara Phomicinda\/The Orange County Register via AP, File)\n<\/p>\n

\"Officers<\/p>\n

Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department respond to a strike by the National Union of Healthcare Workers in front of Kaiser Permanente\u2019s Sunset Boulevard location in Los Angeles on Feb. 7, 2025. An estimated 31,000 registered nurses and healthcare professionals plan to strike Kaiser hospitals and medical facilities beginning Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (Photo by J.W. Hendricks for CalMatters)\n<\/p>\n

\"More<\/p>\n

More than 2500 Kaiser healthcare professionals throughout San Diego County from Kaiser Permanente walked the picket line, including this group in front of Kaiser Permanente San Diego Medical Center in Kearny Mesa on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in San Diego, CA. An estimated 31,000 registered nurses and healthcare professionals plan to strike Kaiser hospitals and medical facilities beginning Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (Nelvin C. Cepeda \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)\n<\/p>\n

\"Hundreds<\/p>\n

Hundreds of nurses and staff picket outside of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Woodland Hills, CA on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. An estimated 31,000 registered nurses and healthcare professionals plan to strike Kaiser hospitals and medical facilities beginning Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Kaiser<\/p>\n

Kaiser Permanente employees picket outside Kaiser Permanente La Mesa on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023 in La Mesa, CA. An estimated 31,000 registered nurses and healthcare professionals plan to strike Kaiser hospitals and medical facilities beginning Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (Meg McLaughlin \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)\n<\/p>\n

\"Kaiser<\/p>\n

Kaiser Permanente roughly covers one in four Californians and 4.9 million patients in Southern California. (Bloomberg file photo)\n<\/p>\n

\"Some<\/p>\n

Some of the approximately 300 Kaiser employees in attendance strike in front of the Kaiser Permanente Ontario Medical Center on Vineyard Avenue on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. An estimated 31,000 registered nurses and healthcare professionals plan to strike Kaiser hospitals and medical facilities beginning Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 7<\/p>\n

Kaiser Permanente hospital logo is seen during a nationwide strike, on Oct. 4, 2023, in Moreno Valley, Calif. An estimated 31,000 registered nurses and healthcare professionals plan to strike Kaiser hospitals and medical facilities beginning Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (Watchara Phomicinda\/The Orange County Register via AP, File)\n<\/p>\n

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