On Monday, more than 31,000 front-line nurses and health care professionals went on an unfair labor practice strike at more than two dozen hospitals and clinics across California and Hawaii.
Members of United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP), the health care professionals are fighting for their patients — and a whole lot more.
They are fighting for better staffing levels. They are fighting for timely access to quality care. They are fighting for a voice in decisions that affect their patients. And they are fighting for better wages and respect at the bargaining table.
They are people like Christabel Vann Nguyen, a night-shift operating room nurse who works at Kaiser Irvine.
“We’re tired of [Kaiser’s] lack of commitment to our patients and the lack of respect they show for our work,” said Vann Nguyen. We give our all every day and we don’t have the necessary resources. We're here asking Kaiser to come to the table for our patients, so we can provide better care for everybody.”
Most UNAC/UHCP members have been bargaining with Kaiser since last May, with some bargaining since January 2024.
UNAC/UHCP’s contract with Kaiser expired on Sept. 30. In October, members held a five-day work stoppage to spotlight the issues they were facing.
In December, the union filed an unfair labor practice with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that Kaiser attempted to bypass the agreed-upon national bargaining process and interfere with good-faith negotiations.
UNAC/UHCP represents 41,000 registered nurses and front-line health care professionals in California and Hawaii — 31,000 of whom work at Kaiser Permanente. They include physician assistants, certified nurse midwives, pharmacists, physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, and more.
And according to Gerard Corros, a day shift charge nurse in Orange County and member of the Southern California nurses bargaining team, they are the “glue that makes health care go.”
“When you need something in health care, you look for a nurse,” says Corros. “A physician cannot be a physician without a nurse. Health care will not be going anywhere without your health care professionals, without the PAs and MPs and nursing professionals.”
Kelli Rubidoux, a physical therapist who works at Kaiser’s Anaheim campus, shared a message with Kaiser’s CEO that echoes the feelings of all the striking Kaiser workers, who are demanding Kaiser return to the bargaining table.
“Show up, knock it off,” she said. “Let's go and get this settled. Do the right thing.”