Contracts & Bargaining
Our SCNSC bargaining team, pictured with UNAC/UHCP President Charmaine S. Morales, RN:
Michelle Curtis-Ussery, RN
Jennifer Colcol-Marquez, RN
Gina Gruber, RN
Lisa Oda, RN
Liza Ventura, RN
Reyda Roxas, RN
Melanie Wilkes, RN
Donna Haddad, RN, Lead Negotiator
Jess Mangubat, RN, UNAC/UHCP Staff Representative
Teresa Sagal, RN, UNAC/UHCP Staff Representative
Michele Shack, RN, UNAC/UHCP Staff Representative
Join your SCNSC Bargaining Team for another LIVE Question & Answer session where you WILL be able to ask your questions directly.
🗓️ Tuesday, November 25th, 2025
🕣 7:00 – 8:00 PM
Please download Microsoft Teams for personal use and create a login using your personal email account.
Join the Teams Meeting
Meeting ID: 254 139 146 614 28
Passcode: Qw6s4EB2
On Tuesday, November 18, 2025, our SCNSC bargaining team showed up fully prepared to meet with management. Instead, management requested a sidebar—a separate, informal discussion between the chief negotiators. While sidebars are a normal part of negotiations, at this stage of contract talks, we are frustrated by the lack of progress and are eager to tackle the remaining economic issues. By the end of the session, no new agreements were reached. Though we are disappointed by the lack of movement, we remain steadfast in our commitment to securing a fair contract that protects patient care.
Management is testing our resolve, but we know that staying united and engaged is how we will win. Take action in this next phase of our contract campaign: visit www.InvestInPatientCare.org, share it with your network, and help raise public awareness. Buttons, yard signs, and window signs featuring the website have been distributed. If you would like any of these items, please contact your local officer.
Please consider supporting “Highly Favored. A Blessing to Others.” You can sign up to volunteer at their next event or make a donation to support their cause.
Join your SCNSC Bargaining Team for another LIVE Question & Answer session where you will be able to ask your questions directly.
🗓️ Tuesday, November 4, 2025
🕣 7:00 – 8:00 PM
Teams Meeting ID and Passcode:
Meeting ID: 249 706 640 620 1
Passcode: rD6RB7u8
On September 22, 2025, we met with management to discuss economics, primarily wage grid increases and pay increases for Qualified Bilingual Speaker (QBS). Unfortunately, the conversations proved disappointing, with management showing little willingness to address our members’ needs.
Wage Grid Inflation Adjustment:
We presented the case for adjusting our wage grid to reflect current economic realities and the true value of our members’ specialized work.
Qualified Bilingual Speaker (QBS) Pay Increase:
We advocated for increased compensation for our bilingual members who are able to establish a personal connection with patients in their preferred language, creating a positive impact on the overall patient experience.
During negotiations, we emphasized the value we bring:
• Patient Care Excellence: Our members prevent costly hospital re-admissions through quality, specialized care
• Proactive Disease Management: Members work with patients to manage chronic conditions and slow disease progression, ultimately saving the organization significant costs
• Quality Patient Education: Members dedicate time and have specialized knowledge on how to educate patients, making sure patients understand their care instructions and treatment plans
• Exceptional Retention: Our members demonstrate remarkable dedication, typically staying in their roles until retirement
• Specialized Expertise: The work requires specialized skills that deserve appropriate compensation
Management’s position was deeply disappointing, citing no interest in either proposal.
Our members are being penalized for their dedication rather than rewarded for it. The fact that our specialized care nurses choose to build careers with this organization should be viewed as an asset to be valued, not an excuse to avoid fair compensation.
Management’s stance is clear: they do not respect our specialized skills and dedication to patient care. Their refusal to even consider modest improvements to our economic proposals is unacceptable.
Stay strong. Stay united. Our dedication to patient care deserves proper recognition and compensation.
Our local bargaining issues will be escalated to the National Kaiser bargaining sessions, taking place September 29-30, 2025 in San Diego.
We’re urging members to attend the September 30, 2025 bargaining session, which is the final day of bargaining on the date our contract expires. This is our time to demonstrate our unity and strength. Reserve your spot Memberlink.
We reached eight (8) tentative agreements (TAs) during Friday’s 13-hour marathon bargaining session with management on September 12, 2025.
TAs on Non-Economic Issues:
• Just Culture
• Per diem commitment
• Bereavement leave
• Vacation language clean up
• Grievance and arbitration
• Education Leave request
• ESL usage intent language
TA on Economic Issue:
• Increased preceptor pay
Our unity and dedication are driving these important wins. We are still negotiating the wage grid and QBS.
Thank you to all the observers who came to support us during bargaining this week. Some stayed very late and until the end of the bargaining session. Your presence made a difference!
Let’s continue to show solidarity and determination towards winning a strong contract that makes Kaiser the best place to work and the best place to receive care.
We are so proud of the progress we have made, but our contract expires on September 30, 2025, and we must be ready to take united action for our patients and profession, should it be necessary.
Join UNAC/UHCP’s Strike Authorization Town Halls, Sept. 15 through 18, to hear from union leadership and learn what we need to do to in our fight for a fair contract: https://unacuhcp.org/ready/
This week, we reached our first tentative agreements (TAs)! After months of negotiations, we see that both sides are working towards the best language, revising the spirit of partnership. These are the TAs we won:
• ACP – Clean Up Language on Earned Time Off
• ACP – Paid Sick Leave
• Letter of Understanding on Gender Neutral Pronouns
• Mandatory Training
• Professional Practice Forums
• Probation and Evaluation
We also had robust discussions on Vacation Scheduling and Job Postings and Filling of Vacancies.
We met with management on Monday, August 25 and Tuesday, August 26. We thank our members for showing their support: Ruth Segura, Daniel Jeon, Liliana Hawken, Alexandra Bermudez, Melissa Money, and Melissa Grijalva. We also appreciated the support of Representation Director Mandy Hartz, who joined the SCNSC bargaining team on Tuesday, August 26.
We have moved our next Local Bargaining session to the same location as National Bargaining so that members may attend both to better understand the bargaining process.
The next Local Bargaining session is on Monday, September 8, 2025 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. There is an opportunity to attend the National Labor Caucus the same evening at 6:30pm. National Bargaining continues from Tuesday, September 9 to Friday, September 12, 2025.
As always, we encourage members to demonstrate our power by showing up at bargaining. Sign up in Memberlink.
Bargaining Debrief:Your SCNSC bargaining team met with management on July 9 to have one of the most productive sessions yet with Kaiser management, demonstrating true collaboration and a shared focus on progress.
During negotiations, we proposed:
✅ Wage grid elevation to ensure fair compensation
✅ Clean-up of language on ACP and on “Filling of Vacancies and Job Postings”
✅ Updates to the use of ESL
✅ A counterproposal on management’s proposed Education Leave language
Meanwhile, management proposed:
𖧹 ACP sick time provisions
𖧹 Limitations on transfers
𖧹 A counterproposal on Per Diem commitment
𖧹 A mechanism for employee reassignment
We were joined and supported at the table by observers, UNAC/UHCP Treasurer Moises Alarcon, as well as Jane Carter and Richard Leon from the UNAC/UHCP Research Department, who provided valuable expertise as we advanced our wage grid proposal. The overall mood was positive, with both sides committed to finding the best contract language possible.
We invite all SCNSC members to join upcoming bargaining sessions as observers and stand in solidarity with our team—your presence truly strengthens our position at the table!
Together, we are stronger.
Our next sessions are scheduled for August 27 & 28 at UNAC/UHCP Headquarters. Be sure to RSVP in Memberlink to reserve your spot! We may also add another bargaining date, so stay tuned for updates!
Throughout negotiations, we have shown up united, strong, and ready to engage in a collaborative process. Yet we are still waiting for management’s responses to multiple proposals that we have submitted. On June 18, we continued passing proposals across the table. Management presented a proposal regarding bereavement leave, to which we provided a counter-proposal before the end of the day. We also passed to management proposals on:
• Preceptor Pay Increase
• Qualified Bilingual Staff (QBS) 1 and QBS 2 Pay Increases
• Letter of Understanding (LOU) on Gender-Neutral Pronoun Use
While we have not yet reached a tentative agreement (TA), we remain steadfast and committed to securing the best contract possible.
The conversations at the bargaining table directly affect you and how you provide quality patient care. We ask that you come to the table, witness the discussions, and add your presence.
💪 When we show up in numbers, we show our strength.
✊ When we stand united, we fight for what’s fair and just.
🗣️ Let’s send a clear message to management: We are united. We are strong. We are paying attention.
Next bargaining sessions are July 9 and July 10 at UNAC/UHCP Headquarters in San Dimas, CA. RSVP in Memberlink to reserve your spot!
📅 Join us. Stand with your SCNSC union. Together we are stronger.
Our bargaining team demonstrated our unity when we met with management in coordinated Hawaii-themed attire. We opened the session on Monday, June 2, by presenting leis to management as a gesture encouraging collaborative partnership. During our bargaining session, our team passed a proposal to management to include newer specialties in professional practice forum language, and engaged in extensive interest-based discussions regarding ESL provisions.
Our unit remains strong and focused, despite management pushing uniform interests across multiple UNAC/UHCP bargaining tables, rather than sharing interests specific to our unit.
Observers make a powerful statement simply by showing up. Your presence demonstrates that our membership is engaged and watching.
Please join us when we meet again with management on Wednesday, June 18. Sign-up in Memberlink. Feel free to attend for the time frame that works best with your schedule.
On Thursday, May 29, 2025, we held dynamic and lengthy discussions with management. We spent most of the day talking about per diem rights, where we emphasized our commitment to our per diem members, sharing our perspective that per diem members have the same rights and protections as our non-per diem members.
We also gave management our proposal on mandatory trainings, written to provide members dedicated uninterrupted time to complete mandatory trainings. The proposal is meant to support members in keeping up with the quickly changing healthcare landscape and patient care needs.
We are waiting to hear from management on our proposals on Just Culture and Lactation Accommodation.
Overall, we are making steady progress, though we hope to learn more about management’s interests.
Thank you to the observers who have taken time out of their busy lives to attend bargaining. We welcome more observers to join us!
When management sees more of us participating in the process, they see how united we are. Our next bargaining sessions are scheduled for Monday, June 2, 2025 and Wednesday, June 18, 2025. Sign up in Memberlink.
On Wednesday, May 14, we engaged in contract negotiations with management. We held extensive interest-based discussions centered on:
We are proud to be making steady progress.
We welcome members to join us at bargaining! It makes a difference when management sees our members engaged and united. Our next bargaining session is scheduled for May 29, 2025 at the UNAC/UHCP HQ in San Dimas, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Come and stay for long as you would like. Sign up in Memberlink.
Our second bargaining session was productive, and we appreciate all colleagues who attended as observers. We began the session with another engaging icebreaker to further strengthen our relationships and continue building rapport.
Both Kaiser Permanente (KP) and our UNAC/UHCP-SCNSC bargaining teams revisited their respective interests to ensure mutual understanding and clarity. We were also pleased to have Charmaine Morales, UNAC/UHCP President, and Peter Sidhu, UNAC/UHCP Executive Vice President, who briefly joined the session.
Our discussions moved into meaningful, interest-based conversations, focusing specifically on:
Additionally, we have confirmed the following bargaining dates to ensure continued progress:
Stay tuned for further updates, and thank you for your continued support.
We had a strong start to interested-based bargaining when we met with management on Wednesday, April 2, 2025 at the UNAC/UHCP headquarters in San Dimas, CA. We began with introductions, discussed ground rules, and shared bargaining interests. The conversations were informative, positive, and focused on patient care.
UNAC/UHCP President Charmaine S. Morales, RN visited our bargaining session and we were encouraged by her welcome message that these negotiations represent an opportunity to advocate for quality patient care, strengthen professional relationships, and to make Kaiser the best place to work.
Southern California Kickoff
We’re ready to work toward a contract that strengthens our labor-management partnership and ensures the best care for our patients. Nearly 30,000 registered nurses and healthcare professionals across Southern California are coming together to advocate for wages that attract, retain, and respect the dedicated professionals who keep Kaiser Permanente at the forefront of healthcare.
Representing registered nurses, pharmacists, rehab therapists, optometrists, dietitians, audiologists, health educators, and speech-language pathologists, we know that delivering high-quality care starts with safe staffing. When teams are fully supported, patients receive the best care, and professionals can work at the top of their licenses.
Almost all Southern California KP contracts expire on September 30, 2025. These negotiations are a key opportunity to strengthen our workforce, improve patient outcomes, and reinforce the partnership that has provided high-quality care to Kaiser Permanente patients.
Together, we are committed to solutions that support healthcare professionals, enhance patient care, and uphold our shared mission. Stay engaged—this is our moment to make a real difference.
