Hundreds Of Northern California Kaiser Health Care Workers Will Strike To Improve Patient Care

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: press@unacuhcp.org

Who: Hundreds of certified registered nurse anesthetists and certified nurse midwives
What: Conducting one-day strike on behalf on safer staffing, better care, stronger retention efforts for their Kaiser patients
When: Monday, September 8, 7 a.m. (strike begins)
Where: Key picket locations from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.:

• Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center and clinics (1600, 1640, 1660 Eureka Road, Roseville, CA)
• Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center (3600 and 3701 Broadway, Oakland, CA)

HUNDREDS OF KAISER HEALTHCARE WORKERS WILL STRIKE TO IMPROVE PATIENT CARE

On September 8, more than 600 Northern California midwives and nurse anesthetists will call for fixes for safe staffing, burnout 

OAKLAND, CA – Across more than 20 hospitals in Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California region, hundreds of union healthcare professionals will go on strike to demand better care for their patients and dignity and respect for the care they provide.

More than 600 certified nurse midwives and certified registered nurse anesthetists delivered their 10-day notice of a strike this week amid ongoing bargaining with Kaiser executives–who have refused to settle a fair contract that addresses unsafe staffing, burnout, and the risk to patient care. Hundreds of PAs (physician assistants) and acupuncture providers will go on a sympathy strike in support.

The strike will last one day, beginning at 7 a.m. on Monday, September 8, and ending at 7 a.m. on Tuesday. However, union healthcare professionals will picket two main locations–Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center–from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday, September 8.

The strike was called by the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP), negotiating the first union contract for the midwives and nurse anesthetists.

“Midwives and certified registered nurse anesthetists are trusted at every critical juncture—guiding families through birth, easing patients through surgery, and stepping in at life’s most vulnerable moments,” said Charmaine S. Morales, RN, president of  UNAC/UHCP, which represents 40,000 healthcare professionals with several employers throughout California and Hawaii. “We’re not only fighting for fair treatment at work—we’re demanding the staffing, resources, and respect that make safe, expert care possible,”

The strike notice includes caregivers at Northern California Kaiser Permanente facilities from Sacramento to Fresno, and across the Bay Area. Earlier this month, the midwives and nurse anesthetists voted overwhelmingly in favor of striking.

“Regionally, we’ve had operating rooms sit empty because there weren’t enough nurse anesthetists to cover cases,” said Jeff Cathcart, CRNA, who works at Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco. “That directly impacts patient access to care.”

Across the country, more healthcare workers are organizing—and they’re doing it with patient care front and center. NLRB data show union election petitions have more than doubled since 2021, rising 27% from FY 2023 to FY 2024 alone.

Research links this momentum to better patient outcomes: studies of nurse unionization in California found improvements in nurse-sensitive outcomes and lower heart-attack mortality at unionized hospitals. That’s why more midwives, PAs, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and others are excited to join the labor movement, ready to secure strong first contracts that guarantee safe staffing, workable caseloads, and resources from which patients truly benefit.

Separate Kaiser Negotiations 

Further south, separate negotiations are unfolding between Kaiser and a large workforce of UNAC/UHCP nurses and other union healthcare professionals.

On September 30, 2025: that contract, which includes 32,000 Kaiser healthcare professionals working throughout California and Hawaii is set to expire.

Many healthcare workers have also not fully recovered from the trauma and burnout they experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. On top of that, healthcare workers today are being forced to navigate multiple levels of uncertainty, facing daily staffing shortages while dealing with increasingly complex patient needs, and simultaneously managing the looming impact of healthcare loss for thousands of patients due to federal budget cuts.

UNAC/UHCP is sounding the alarm for the millions who get Kaiser healthcare in California and in Hawaii.

Morales said: “When we have what we need to practice at our best, patients get the best chance to heal and thrive.”

ABOUT UNAC/UHCP

United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) represents more than 40,000 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.