SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Tens of thousands of healthcare workers are set to strike against Kaiser Permanente, the union representing them announced.
On Friday, the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) announced it had delivered a 10-day strike notice to Kaiser Permanente, citing the need for more staffing, fair pay, retirement security and employee benefits.
If the strike happens, which is set to start on Tuesday, Oct. 14, it would be the largest UNAC/UHCP strike ever against Kaiser Permanente with 31,000 UNAC/UHCP healthcare workers set to strike, according to the union.
Tens of thousands of frontline registered nurses and healthcare workers would strike for five days at more than two dozen hospitals and clinics across California and Hawaii, according to the union, which said members of the Alliance of Health Care Unions will join picket lines in California, Hawaii and Oregon.
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, with the majority working in California, the union said.
UNAC/UHCP said more than 200 pharmacists, therapists and certified nurse anesthetists would be striking in Hawaii with thousands of workers in other Alliance unions.
“This strike is about protecting patients as much as it is about protecting caregivers,” said UNAC/UHCP President Charmaine S. Morales, RN. “Kaiser executives cannot keep expanding while ignoring the crisis inside their hospitals. Our message is clear: invest in the people who provide care, or face the consequences of a workforce that refuses to stay silent.”
UNAC/UHCP Executive Director Joe Guzynski said, “Our patients are waiting longer, and our caregivers are stretched to the breaking point, and Kaiser executives are sitting on billions.”
“Our members built Kaiser into the respected institution it is today,” said Guzynski, the union’s lead negotiator. “If Kaiser refuses to invest in them now, it isn’t just neglecting its workforce — it’s putting the entire health care system at risk.”
Earlier this year, Kaiser Permanente and the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) representing thousands of mental health workers reached a tentative agreement, ending a six month strike in Southern California.
Kaiser Permanente has yet to publicly respond to the UNAC/UHCP strike notice.
Want more insights? Join Working Title - our career elevating newsletter and get the future of work delivered weekly.
