Press Releases
42,000-STRONG NURSES AND HEALTHCARE WORKERS UNION ELECTS NEW OFFICERS
Kaiser Bakersfield Registered Nurses Association (KBKRNA), Kaiser Baldwin Park Registered Nurses Association (KBPRNA), Kaiser Downey Registered Nurses and Advanced Practice Professionals (KDRNAPP), Kaiser Fontana Registered Nurses Association (KFRNA), Kaiser Los Angeles Registered Nurses Association (KLARNA), Kaiser Ontario Vineyard Health Care Professionals Association (KOVHCPA), Kaiser Orange County Professionals Association (KOCPA), Kaiser Panorama Registered Nurses Association (KPRNA), Kaiser Permanente Association of Southern CA Optometrists (KPASCO), Kaiser Permanente Certified Specialty Professionals (KPCSP), Kaiser Riverside Registered Nurses – Union of Health Care Professionals (KRRN-UHCP), Kaiser San Diego Health Care Professionals Association (KSDHCPA), Kaiser South Bay HealthCare Professionals Association (KSBHPA), Kaiser West LA Healthcare Professionals Association (KWHPA), Kaiser Woodland Hills Registered Nurses Association (KWHRNA), United Nurse Anesthetists of Hawaii (UNAHI), United Nurse Anesthetists of Northern California (UNANC), United PAs of California (UPAC), United Pharmacists of Hawaii (UPHI), United Therapists of Southern California (UTSC) +17 More
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 14, 2026
CONTACT: Press@unacuhcp.org
42,000-STRONG NURSES AND HEALTH CARE WORKERS UNION ELECTS NEW OFFICERS
President Morales and Secretary Hawkins reelected along with two board members; board also gained two new members
LOS ANGELES — At their 42nd biennial convention, nearly 1,000 UNAC/UHCP delegates re-elected Charmaine S. Morales, RN, to serve as the union’s president, and Elizabeth Hawkins, RN, to serve as Executive Secretary; and elected four directors to their board of nine.
“This last year has truly tested our union,” said Morales. “We won the largest nurses and healthcare professionals’ strike in U.S. history against Kaiser Permanente, winning historic staffing and patient safety protections. We won an important strike against Sharp Healthcare, the largest healthcare system in San Diego. We brought thousands of new members into the union. We’ve grown to more than 42,000 members. We strengthened our voice and developed new leaders who are ready to carry our union into the future. This union is bigger than any one leader, any one election, or any one person. I believe in our members, and I believe our best days are still ahead.”
Morales was first elected president in 2022 and is the first woman of color to serve as UNAC/UHCP president, as well as the first Filipina president, while nearly a quarter of nurses in California are Filipino or of Filipino heritage.
Elizabeth Hawkins was a longtime ER nurse prior to her election as an officer in 2017. She spearheaded the union’s successful efforts to ensure that CalOSHA wrote regulations to protect healthcare workers from violence in the workplace, sharing her story in public testimony of being attacked and injured by a violent patient.
Re-elected to the union’s board of directors were Linda Morales, RN, who works at Kaiser Baldwin Park and Liza Ventura, RN, case manager who works at Kaiser’s Southern California headquarters in Pasadena. Elected to the Board of Directors for the first time: Nastaishia O’Howell, RN, Pettis Memorial Veterans Hospital in Loma Linda, and Doug Wong, PA at Kaiser Riverside.
###
United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) represents more than 42,000 registered nurses and healthcare professionals in California and Hawaii, including optometrists; pharmacists; physical, occupational and speech therapists; case managers; nurse midwives; social workers; clinical lab scientists; physician assistants and nurse practitioners; hospital support and technical staff. UNAC/UHCP is affiliated with the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees (NUHHCE) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO.