Planned 5-day strike at Kaiser Permanente health care facilities ends,
with plans for further talks
[October 20, 2025]
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A planned five-day strike by thousands of
registered nurses and other Kaiser Permanente health care workers in
California, Hawaii and Oregon ended on Sunday, union leaders and the
health care system said.
California-based Kaiser Permanente said it welcomed back about 30,000
employees who participated in the strike, which began Tuesday and ended
Sunday morning. Its statement said its facilities were “staffed by
physicians, experienced managers and trained staff, along with nearly
6,000 contracted nurses, clinicians and others who worked with us during
the strike.”
Plans call for bargaining to resume this week, with a focus on “economic
issues,” the statement said. While unions also raised staffing and other
concerns, “wages are the reason for the strike and the primary issue in
negotiations,” the statement said.
The United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care
Professionals, which represents registered nurses, pharmacists, nurse
midwives and other health care professionals in California and Hawaii,
said in a statement that more than 500 hospitals and clinics were
impacted by the strike. It said the strike sent a message that “patient
care and safe staffing must come first.”
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Kaiser Permanente register nurse Mia Huie, right, joins healthcare
worker on strike in front of the Los Angeles Kaiser Medical Center
in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian
Dovarganes)
It announced plans to resume bargaining later this month.
Sarina Roher, president of the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health
Professionals, in a statement said Kaiser Permanente “cannot fix its
staffing and access crisis without competitive wages that retain and
recruit the skilled professionals our patients depend on.”
Kaiser Permanente is one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit health
plans, serving 12.6 million members at 600 medical offices and 40
hospitals, largely in western U.S. states.
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