Kaiser Permanente Nurses Ratify Contracts After Year of Strikes

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Nurses and health care professionals at Kaiser Permanente have voted to ratify new contracts with the Pasadena-headquartered health system, the unions representing the workers announced Friday, concluding nearly a year of negotiations that included three strikes. The agreements between the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals and Kaiser Permanente take effect immediately and expire September 30, 2029, covering 31,000 Kaiser health care workers across California and Hawaii.

Why it matters

The ratification of these contracts ends a contentious period of labor negotiations and strikes that disrupted patient care at Kaiser facilities across the region. The new agreements aim to address long-standing concerns from nurses and other health care workers around staffing levels, patient care standards, and fair compensation.

The details

The contracts include 21.5% across-the-board wage increases, which the union called the largest in its history, along with what UNAC/UHCP described as strengthened staffing protections and patient care standards. For the first time in more than 20 years, all UNAC/UHCP contracts ratified share the same expiration date of September 30, 2029.

• Contract negotiations began in March 2025.
• The existing contracts expired on September 30, 2025.
• UNAC/UHCP members held a one-day strike in Northern California in September 2025, followed by a five-day strike in October 2025 involving 31,000 workers at more than 500 Kaiser facilities.
• On January 26, 2026, 31,000 UNAC/UHCP members walked off the job in an open-ended unfair labor practice strike, which ended on February 24, 2026.
• The new contracts take effect immediately and expire on September 30, 2029.

What’s next

The new contracts take effect immediately and expire on September 30, 2029, providing labor peace for the next several years.