31,000 Kaiser Permanente nurses and health workers begin open-ended strike

More than 31,000 registered nurses and healthcare professionals represented by UNAC/UHCP began an open-ended unfair labor practice strike at Kaiser Permanente facilities across California and Hawaii on January 26, 2026, the largest healthcare worker strike in US history. Workers cited dangerous staffing levels, escalating workloads causing moral injury, and wages that had not kept pace with housing and cost-of-living increases. The union had filed an NLRB unfair labor practice charge against Kaiser in December 2025, alleging the company bypassed agreed-upon national bargaining procedures.