Kaiser Permanente health care workers ratify new contract

“This agreement reflects everything our members stood up and stood together for: safe staffing, improved access and respect for the professionals who provide critical care every day,” UNAC/UHCP President Charmaine Morales said.

The contract expires on Sept. 30, 2029, and for the first time in more than 20 years, all ratified UNAC/UHCP contracts share the same expiration date, union officials said.

Contract talks had been happening since March 2025, with the union asking for better wages, workplace safety improvements and solutions to what it says is a short staffing problem in many departments.

The dispute between Kaiser and the unionized workers resulted in several labor actions, including a one-day strike last September by Northern California workers, a five-day strike in October and a January 2026 strike that lasted nearly a month.

Union leaders called the January strike “the largest open-ended nurses and health care professionals strike in U.S. history.”

In addition to unspecified wage increases, union officials said Northern California rehab therapy and acupuncture caregivers will now have “a stronger voice on committees for improving quality of care” and physician assistants won improved staffing.

Also, Nurse midwives in Northern California will “now work together across locations, improving communication, consistency, and care for birthing patients and families,” union officials said.

Union workers in Southern California and Hawaii also won several contract improvements.

A Kaiser spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.