Member Resources: Kaiser Psych-Social Strike

A social worker at Children’s Hospital Oakland, Crowe is determined to keep her union and her full paycheck.

Less than 48 hours after NUHW members in Southern California reached an agreement to settle a 196-day strike against Kaiser Permanente, the giant HMO was facing withering criticism during an Assembly hearing on its mental health system.

The new contract for nearly 2,400 Kaiser Permanente workers includes important gains but does not establish full equity for behavioral health within the Kaiser system.

With NUHW sponsoring two mental health parity bills, more than fifty members converged on Sacramento for face-to-face meetings with state lawmakers.

Workers at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland are heading to San Francisco this week to urge the University of California Board of Regents to stop UCSF Health from cancelling their union contracts, and forcing them into UC unions.

Psychologists, social workers, marriage and family therapists, and other NUHW members will hold a public gathering with elected officials outside the State Capitol on Mental Health Matters Day.

After 196-day strike in Southern California, the new contract includes several improvements, including a defined benefit pension, but does not establish full equity for behavioral health within the Kaiser system.

NUHW will review the tentative agreement with its members. NUHW expects to complete the ratification vote by May 8. If ratified, the agreement will have immediate effect.

We were honored for our strike today at Los Angeles City Hall. About a dozen strikers were on hand to accept a special May Day Award from Councilmembers Hugo Soto-Martinez and Eunisses Hernandez. 

Workers at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland are preparing to go on strike to stop UCSF’s plan to integrate the hospital into UCSF Health — a move that would cost workers their union and at least $7,000 per year in take-home pay.

The Assembly Health Committee on Tuesday voted 12-1 to advance AB 1429, (Bains, D-Delano) that would make it much easier for Kaiser patients to get fully reimbursed for out-of pocket mental health expenses.

The Assembly Health Committee will hear AB 1429, which would require Kaiser to provide full reimbursement for patients paying out-of-pocket for behavioral health services that Kaiser should be providing.

USC Call Center Scheduler says negotiating her first union contract showed her the power of a union.

Read our roundup of the latest labor and healthcare news from top media outlets.

The recent session in Sacramento, which included a visit from the capital city’s mayor, helped equip workers with the tools to build power in the workplace.

NUHW now represents workers at all six Providence hospitals in Northern California and more than 4,300 Providence employees statewide.

By folding Children’s Hospital Oakland into UCSF Health, the university would force NUHW members into different unions with contracts that would result in significantly less take-home pay.

Workers are fighting for fair wages to improve care and end rampant turnover at West Anaheim Medical Center.

Now in their seventh month on strike, Kaiser mental health workers are continuing to escalate their fight for a fair contract and mental health parity at California’s largest HMO.

Frontline caregivers at Prime Healthcare’s West Anaheim Medical Center will hold a midday picket line on Tuesday, April 22 to inform community members how the hospital’s below market wages are forcing an exodus of caregivers, compromising patient care.

Everyone is welcomed to participate this Saturday in an 8-mile walk, completely organized by strikers, to further demonstrate our resolve to win a fair contract. So far, about three dozen workers have signed up for the walk

We had a great presence at Saturday's Bernie Sanders / Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Fighting Oligarchy rally in Los Angeles. 

Our eight fellow workers ended their hunger strike this evening with colleagues and clergy by their side. Over the past five days, they have demonstrated their resolve to make Kaiser finally treat behavioral health care – and those who provide and receive it – with dignity and respect.

Eight mental health workers will end their five-day hunger strike at 6 p.m. this evening outside the Kaiser Los Angeles Medical Center with clergy and supporters at their side.

Our hunger strikers are doing well after an exciting second day of their five-day action. The biggest highlight was a visit from Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine.

Striking Kaiser therapists are continuing a five-day hunger strike today in Los Angeles.

Eight workers began a 5-day hunger strike today outside Kaiser’s Los Angeles Medical Center. were joined throughout the day by fellow Kaiser workers, Kaiser patients, Los Angeles Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, and labor icon Dolores Huerta

NUHW represents workers at every Providence hospital in Northern California after 200 workers at Healdsburg Hospital voted to join our union.

Fed up with Kaiser Permanente’s failure to address the needs of patients, mental health professionals will hold a five-day hunger strike beginning April 7.

We kicked off this week by symbolizing the silencing effect Kaiser’s broken mental health system has on our patients and communities. We know the system is fraught with bureaucracy because we see our patients try to self advocate within it, and even with our support, often fail to get the care they need and deserve.  

We had a successful action in Bakersfield on Thursday with more than 30 strikers participating, including folks from the Inland Empire, Orange County and Los Angeles.

Workers are protesting the university’s planned integration of the hospital into UCSF Health — a move that would significantly reduce take home pay for workers in the East Bay.

We had another powerful action today with about 125 people at Kaiser’s Pasadena regional headquarters, including patients, elected officials and community allies. 

Now in the sixth month of the longest mental health strike in California history, behavioral health workers at Kaiser took to the streets this month throughout Southern California.

: The project aims to ensure that everyone feels protected and valued in the workplace and beyond, regardless of their background or identity.

As the Kaiser mental health strike enters its sixth month, a state agency has found that Kaiser still has not fixed long-standing deficiencies in its mental health services.

More than 120 people attended our rally and protest in San Diego today, including Kaiser patients, elected officials and allies from other unions. Several news outlets covered the event/

Striking Kaiser Permanente mental health workers from across Southern California will protest and march in Bakersfield Thursday, joined by elected officials and community allies. 

Striking Kaiser Permanente mental health workers from across Southern California will protest outside Kaiser’s regional headquarters in Pasadena Wednesday joined by patients, elected officials and community allies. 

It’s been over five months since nearly 2,400 Kaiser Permanente mental health therapists, psychologists, social workers and psychiatric nurses went on strike in Southern California, determined to make Kaiser stop treating mental health care as a second-class service.

Aquinaldo, a respiratory therapist at Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital, continues her father’s union legacy

With Oakland facing a watershed election, NUHW members, many of whom live and work in the city, are knocking on doors to elect the progressive, pro-worker icon as the city’s next mayor.

NUHW members held together to beat back the university’s proposed takeaways and keep their free HMO insurance plan.

The agreement extends a trailblazing contract that includes caseload limits and big raises to Rogers workers in Los Angeles.

We started Month Six of our strike today with a powerful action outside Kaiser’s Psychiatry Symposium at the Sheraton Park Hotel in Anaheim.

NUHW is working in close collaboration with community and elected allies to protect our communities against the Trump Administration's political and legislative attacks on health care. 

We had a very positive experience visiting Greg Adams’ church on Sunday. Although Adams wasn’t there, our delegation of about 50 striking workers received a warm welcome from parishioners who expressed support for our cause. 

Statement by Sal Rosselli, president emeritus of the National Union of Healthcare Workers, on the the suspension of mediation aimed at settling the Kaiser Southern California Mental Health Strike, now in its fifth month “When Kaiser Permanente agreed to Gov. Newsom’s request to enter a focused mediation process, we expected that it would give our […]

Kaiser Permanente has agreed to a focused mediation process aimed at settling a strike by its nearly 2,400 Southern California mental health therapists, social workers, psychiatric nurses and psychologists.

Read our roundup of the latest labor and healthcare news from top media outlets.

The 21 workers defeated a legal challenge from the employer claiming they were supervisors before voting to join their coworkers as NUHW members.

Steward at The Sequoias – Portola Valley learned to defend herself so she could defend her coworkers.

Approved by NUHW’s member-led Executive Board, the updated resolution commits NUHW to protect the rights of all of its members and their patients, including transgender people, to be able to receive medical care and to access care without risk of being confronted by immigration agents.

The protest was the first act of civil disobedience during any NUHW Kaiser strike, and came one day after Governor Newsom requested both sides enter focused mediation.

More than 2,000 NUHW members held their first region-wide action to demand contracts that will provide market salaries and safeguard care in their communities.

After no progress during heated bargaining session Monday, workers will wait for Kaiser to agree to mediation, as first requested by Gov. Newsom, before returning to the bargaining table.

Kaiser has still not agreed to the governor’s request for focused mediation, and we are organizing allies, including elected leaders and union leaders, to ramp up the pressure on Kaiser to agree to mediation, which is how the Northern California strike was settled.

Digging in its heels, Kaiser official tells reporter Southern California is “a different geographic market,” won’t match NorCal standards 

NUHW’s Executive Board has reaffirmed our Sanctuary Union status and amended our 2025 resolution in response to the Trump Administration’s attacks on immigrants, transgender, and LGBTQ+ people.

More than 2,000 healthcare workers at Providence hospitals and hospices throughout Northern California are holding their first region-wide Day of Action to call attention to severe understaffing and sharp cuts to health services in communities that are dependent on Providence for their medical care. 

We sent a powerful message to Kaiser officials today demonstrating our resolve to win a fair contract that will treat us as equals in the Kaiser system and guarantee better access to care for Kaiser patients. About 12 strikers along with four allies, including California Labor Federation President Lorena Gonzalez, blocked West Sunset Boulevard in Los...

Striking Kaiser Permanente mental health workers, members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers, will travel from picket lines across Southern California Friday and risk arrest to stage a mass noontime protest in the streets outside Kaiser’s Los Angeles Medical Center,  joined by elected, labor and community allies. 

With Kaiser trying to claim we're divided because some of us have had to return to work four months into the strike, it's critical that we demonstrate our continued determination to win fair treatment for each other and Kaiser patients.

We commemorated Day 100 of the strike this week with vigils honoring Kaiser patients. Guests on the picket line this week included Congressman Mark Levin and California Labor Federation President Lorena Gonzalez.

With Los Angeles County picket lines canceled during the wildfires, striking Kaiser workers helped in relief efforts

The program is geared toward building a pipeline of new organizers for NUHW, and helping members and allies build their organizing skills and determine if they have a future in union organizing.

Gonzalez-Morales, a physical therapy assistant at Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center in San Pedro, became a leader in the fight for a first contract.

Read our roundup of the latest labor and healthcare news from top media outlets.

The agreement also includes limits on subcontracting and job protections in the event the hospital is sold.

The win came a month after employees at three Aspen Healthcare facilities delivered a petition to administrators demanding fair wages and benefits.

The two-year agreement will boost wages at least 8 percent and includes retro pay and free uniforms.

Salaries for workers at Keck Hospital of USC and the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center will increase by an average of 24 percent under the new agreement, which has no takeaways.

We had several guests on our picket lines today, headlined by California State Treasurer Fiona Ma addressing workers at LAMC. She talked from the heart about her family’s mental health needs, and noted the increased need for mental health therapy in the aftermath of the wildfires.

We welcomed some wonderful guests on our picket lines this week. On Wednesday in Lancaster, a 7- year-old girl handed workers artificial roses, and each rose had a heart-shaped tag that read “You will win.” 

We began the 4th month of our strike in fine form today. ABC7 came out early to the Woodland Hills picket to interview people on the picket line. In Downey, a local store owner brought enough wings and garlic noodles for all 70 people on the line to eat. We also had great energy in San...

In the first negotiating session since October, Kaiser Permanente failed to present any new proposals aimed at reaching an agreement to end the strike by its nearly 2,400 Southern California mental health therapists, social workers, psychiatric nurses and psychologists that is now in its 13th week.

For the first time since Oct. 25, striking Kaiser Permanente mental health therapists, social workers, psychiatric nurses and psychologists will return to the bargaining table today. However, the workers, who are in the 13th week of what is now the longest mental health strike in California history, are not optimistic about a breakthrough based on recent...

We were back on several picket lines today, but with the LAMC line still shut down due to the wildfires several of us volunteered throughout the Los Angeles metro area to help fire victims.

With Kaiser having cancelled our bargaining session that had been scheduled for yesterday due to the wildfires, we are scheduled to resume bargaining with Kaiser Thursday, January 16. 

It’s been three months and Kaiser is finally meeting us back at the bargaining table. We resume THIS THURSDAY January 9 at 10 a.m. at the Hilton in Glendale

We rang in the new year resolved in our fight to improve Kaiser’s broken mental health system. And while Kaiser paraded around the idea that it’s “shifting paradigms in care” at the Rose Parade, we leafletted the attendees of the float viewing event to help them better understand our strike. 

We’re holding strong on the picket lines following the holiday, with good attendance and ongoing support from elected officials, community allies, and patients, who have stepped up to share their stories. We’ve heard from more than 500 Kaiser behavioral health patients since late October about their experiences with delayed or denied mental health care.

A dozen news outlets covered our Zoom press conference this morning featuring four patients who have struggled to get the mental health care they need during the strike.

We've reiterated to Kaiser that we are ready to bargain anytime. Meanwhile, our strike continues to generate media coverage and political support.

There has already been some media attention about the joint letters from State Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas — and a majority of state legislators — calling on Kaiser to settle on our terms.

A majority of California legislators have signed onto letters calling on Kaiser CEO Greg Adams to end a strike by Southern California mental health professionals by agreeing to their proposals for settlement.

Español Note: Viewing some of these stories may require a subscription. The Kaiser Mental Health Strike, which is now in its ninth week, continues to generate coverage including stories on how Kaiser’s refusal to offer a fair contract is impacting patients. Capital and Main wrote about mass appointment cancellations and KPBS in San Diego interviewed […]

More than 500 workers at Providence Little Company of Mary Torrance voted to join NUHW in December, joining ranks with over 3,000 of their fellow Providence employees throughout California.

NUHW has a lot of unfinished business as 2024 heads to a close, but we have still accomplished a lot this year.

In a highly unusual action, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire, and a majority of California legislators signed letters urging Kaiser to end the nine-week-old strike by setting on NUHW’s terms.

With the mental health strike entering its third month, workers delivered a Christmas message to Kaiser, with pressure mounting for a fair settlement.

The informational picket outside USC Verdugo Hills Hospital was a significant escalation for nearly 400 workers who joined NUHW last December.

Workers get good raises at Seton Medical Center in Daly City and Rogers Behavioral Health San Diego.

Mental health professional continues the activism work she did as a teen at Sonoma County Jail, pushing to elevate workers’ voices.

Both letters are in. On Thursday, State Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire sent a letter to Kaiser CEO Greg Adams, signed by a majority of state senators, calling on Kaiser to return to the bargaining table and settle the contract on our terms. The letter is essentially identical to the letter Assembly Speaker Robert […]

Nearly 400 strikers participated in a major action today outside Kaiser headquarters in Pasadena. The event began with a food and toy distribution at a nearby union hall before a caravan of strikers, snaking their way down , marched to Kaiser headquarters with a giant cardboard heart in tow.

Wednesday’s picket comes one year after nearly 400 workers formed a union and one month after USC shuttered the hospital’s birthing center.

The California chapter of the National Association of Social Workers has written a letter to Kaiser Permanente CEO Greg Adams calling on Kaiser to “resume good faith negotiations with NUHW’s Southern California members as soon as possible, and accept the union’s reasonable contract proposals.”

We had an extra good week in San Diego, where several workers were special guests at the Labor Council’s holiday party on Wednesday. They spoke about the strike and got several dozen participants to sign our support petition.

We had an eventful day on the picket lines, especially in Lancaster, where Kaiser security illegally walked around with a clipboard taking notes on what they saw. Strikers recorded Kaiser’s illegal surveillancing, and Kaiser’s overzealous head of security was so bothered by it that he grabbed the phone of a striker and threw it on the...

Between the National Association of Social Workers and the leaders of the State Senate and Assembly, a growing number of influential stakeholders are telling Kaiser it needs to settle this contract now.

This week, State Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire joined Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas in calling on Kaiser CEO Greg Adams to “agree to the union’s reasonable contract proposals."

Week Six of our strike is off to a festive start. We had a lot of fun with our Where’s Waldo/Where’s Kaiser theme. Someone on the San Diego line even put a Greg Adams nametag on the fat cat.

With a strike by nearly 2,400 Kaiser mental health professionals in Southern California entering its second month Thursday, Kaiser therapists in Northern California will join their striking colleagues for simultaneous noontime rallies outside Kaiser corporate offices in Pasadena and Oakland.

NUHW-backed candidates fared well locally, but there will be big challenges to protect workers’ rights on the federal level.

With Kaiser facing increased political pressure to return to the bargaining table, striking workers in Southern California and their counterparts in the north took their message directly to company executives.

Read our roundup of the latest labor and healthcare news from top media outlets.

Bowdoin, a nursing assistant at Cottonwood Healthcare Center, is an enterprising leader at work and at home.

More than three-quarters of the 2,300 Providence workers fighting to win common contractual standards throughout Northern California have signed a unity petition, pledging to work together to safeguard care in their communities.

NUHW-backed candidates fared well locally, but there will be big challenges to protect workers’ rights on the federal level.

More than 260 caregivers withstood a fierce anti-union campaign to win a voice in their workplace.

We commemorated the one-month mark of our strike with two boisterous rallies in Pasadena and Oakland. About 300 strikers converged on Kaiser’s regional headquarters in Southern California.

With a strike by nearly 2,400 Kaiser mental health professionals in Southern California entering its second month Thursday, Kaiser therapists in Northern California will join their striking colleagues for simultaneous noontime rallies outside Kaiser corporate offices in Pasadena and Oakland.

We started Week 5 with new people on the picket lines and a strong showing in Los Angeles after Kaiser and the police blocked the distribution of food boxes on Friday.

Kaiser Permanente’s state-mandated contingency plan for providing timely and appropriate mental health care during an ongoing strike is woefully inadequate, without any detail for how it is providing critical mental health services for its 4.8 million Southern California members.

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas signed a powerful letter on our behalf to Kaiser CEO Greg Adams; Kaiser blocked groceries from being delivered to striking workers; we shine light on Kaiser's "efficiencies"; and of course, there was guacamole.

In a powerful display of strength and solidarity, more than 100 of us from across Southern California — along with allies from other unions — stopped Kaiser from hosting a successful party for major healthcare purchasers last night at Petco Park in San Diego.

Our fourth week on strike began with energetic picket lines, a powerful action in Los Angeles and fresh interest from local media. Reporters from KNBC and Telemundo visited the Anaheim picket line, college newspaper reporters and the county Labor Federation president visited the San Diego picket line and KNX news radio sent a reporter to […]

Kaiser Permanente’s state-mandated contingency plan for providing timely and appropriate mental health care during an ongoing strike is woefully inadequate, without any detail for how it is providing critical mental health services for its 4.8 million Southern California members.

We are ending the third week of our strike with Kaiser under increasing pressure over how it's treating patients seeking care.

We started the third week of our strike with good energy on the picket lines and strong interest from media and state authorities about Kaiser’s inadequate and incomplete plan to continue providing critical mental health services.

Kaiser Permanente’s state-mandated contingency plan for providing timely and appropriate mental health care during an ongoing strike is woefully inadequate, without any detail for how it is providing critical mental health services for its 4.8 million Southern California members.

We wrapped up an energetic second week on the picket line with a couple of special guests. At Los Angeles Medical Center, the band Ozomatli performed on the picket line! At Panorama City, Isidra “Lulu” Favela, who went viral on Tiktok supporting her therapist, Roxana, visited striking workers. Lulu said she felt lots of warmth […]

With our picket lines now starting at 8 a.m., we got a little more sleep and had a little extra energy out on the lines. At LAMC, we got an extra boost from a visit by Congressman Jimmy Gomez and members of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE).

It took a strike and months of organizing and agitation but NUHW members at AHMC Seton Medical Center and Seton Coastside won a contract that provides strong raises restores quality healthcare benefits.

Telecommunications Analyst at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland strives to make collective change in the workplace.

Read our roundup of the latest labor and healthcare news from top media outlets.

After everyone came out to an informational picket, caregivers won a strong contract with good raises, more paid time off and better health benefits.

Sal accepted the Jim Preis Memorial Award on behalf of NUHW members on the front lines advocating to improve access to behavioral health care.

The strike began on October 21 and will continue throughout Southern California until Kaiser reaches a fair agreement that benefits workers and patients.

We had one of the biggest turnouts for bargaining today in recent memory. More than 50 of us participated in contract negotiations to show that we’re united and determined to win a fair contract that benefits us and Kaiser patients. 

After an unproductive bargaining session Wednesday, Kaiser Permanente’s nearly 2,400 mental health professionals will return to picket lines today, including the first picket line in Bakersfield since the strike began on Monday.

We had another day of strong turnout and high energy as we moved our picket lines to Riverside, Woodland Hills, Irvine, and Baldwin Park. 

Negotiations resume today as the leading voice for social workers in California backs striking mental health professionals and calls on Kaiser Permanente to address their “critical issues."

We had another day of strong turnout and high energy as we moved our picket lines to Riverside, Woodland Hills, Irvine, and Baldwin Park. 

We had another day of strong turnout and high energy as we moved our picket lines to Riverside, Woodland Hills, Irvine, and Baldwin Park. 

We had great turnout and lots of energy on our picket lines for Day 1 of our open-ended strike. More than 500 NUHW members walked the picket line at Los Angeles Medical Center and many more picketed at Fontana, Anaheim, and San Diego.

The open-ended strike is a last resort for caregivers who have fought for years to make Kaiser fix a mental health system so broken that it was fined $50 million in 2023

Read the press release, see the picket line schedule, and access campaign resources.

Nearly 2,400 mental health professionals will form picket lines outside Kaiser facilities throughout Southern California demanding that the nation’s largest non-profit HMO fix a mental health system that’s so broken, the state of California fined it $50 million last year.

The strike announcement comes exactly one year after California’s top health regulator fined Kaiser a record $50 million for numerous mental health deficiencies including understaffing its mental health services.

The strike announcement comes exactly one year after California’s top health regulator fined Kaiser a record $50 million for numerous mental health deficiencies including understaffing its mental health services.

Caregivers in Southern California approved strike authorization after Kaiser rejected proposals to address staffing shortages and provide more time for critical patient care responsibilities

Both lawmakers accepted their awards during NUHW’s Leadership Conference and pledged to further their efforts to help workers and patients achieve parity for behavioral health care.

After four of the leading candidates for California governor appeared on stage together for the first time at NUHW’s leadership conference, Tony Thurmond was the leading vote-getter in a non-binding straw poll.

In a non-binding straw poll that followed a candidate forum sponsored by the National Union of Healthcare Workers, held in San Francisco Sunday, September 29, NUHW members in attendance and watching remotely from across the state said they preferred Thurmond at this early stage of the race. Watch archived video of the forum at NUHW’s YouTube […]

In September, two years prior to the mid-term election, NUHW will host a Governor Candidate Forum.

Pérez

Read our roundup of the latest labor and healthcare news from top media outlets.

Español Caregivers at Dominican Hospital’s outpatient rehabilitation center held a picket on September 18, calling for a fair contract that will help the center retain workers and provide the best possible care for Santa Cruz residents. The more than two dozen caregivers, who include occupational therapists, speech therapists, and physical therapists, have been without a […]

Shortly after authorizing a strike, more than 100 workers at the Novato Healthcare Center won a contract that builds on the raises they secured months earlier.

After caregivers in the Bay Area won caseload limits and strong wage increases, their counterparts in San Diego decided to join them as NUHW members.

Kaiser failed to automate the process for paying longevity raises, which left nearly 70 NUHW members without full paychecks.

Before your cast your ballot, see which candidates support us! NUHW members voted to endorse local, state, and federal candidates who support working people in fighting for fair contracts and better working conditions.

The certified nursing assistant, who found his “voice” after learning English, is helping his coworkers at Novato Health Center speak up for themselves.

The nearly 30 workers are determined to increase their salaries and eliminate appointment quotas that have resulted in increased turnover and lower staffing levels.

Lateefah Simon, who is running to succeed Barbara Lee in representing Oakland and the East Bay in Congress, visited NUHW’s Emeryville office this month to talk about how she can help workers.

The agreement secures workers 12.5 percent retroactive wage increases and dramatically reduces the impact of the employer’s takeaways from bankruptcy

Shortly after joining NUHW, caregivers at Providence Hospice filed a ULP charge that has led to a settlement that guarantees appropriate staffing levels and extra pay for people who take on additional duties.

Less than a year after joining NUHW, the hospital workers held an informational picket, protesting Providence's regressive bargaining.

After previously holding an informational picket, workers at Keck–USC hospitals are preparing to strike if they can’t reach an agreement that will provide fair pay and safe staffing levels.

Read our roundup of the latest labor and healthcare news from top media outlets.

Despite staffing shortages and worker burnout, the university is demanding wage freezes for some workers and the removal of a guarantee of the free family HMO plan which has currently in place.

The workers, who include licensed vocational nurses, respiratory therapists, housekeepers, nursing assistants, medical technicians, occupational therapists, and physical therapists, voted over the past year to join the National Union of Healthcare Workers and have been negotiating a first contract since February.

The Physical Therapist at Visiting Nurses Association of Santa Cruz is an exercise enthusiast who helped lead her coworkers in the bargaining of their new contract.

Read our roundup of the latest labor and healthcare news from top media outlets.

NUHW members at the nonprofit mental health provider will get an additional three percent raise and become more involved in helping their employer secure additional funding.

When Kaiser claimed that mental health professionals in Hawai’i only qualified for a portion of their $5,000 performance bonus, they showed that Kaiser was crunching numbers incorrectly and won their full bonus.

With contract bargaining set to begin for NUHW-represented mental health professionals in Southern California, The California Labor Federation passed a resolution calling on Kaiser to bargain a fair contract.

NUHW's endorsement is based on two decades of experience working with Harris to improve the lives of California’s working families.

A year after 50 district therapists organized with NUHW, they have achieved equitable pay and working conditions with their co-workers. 

After pickets, strikes and extensive political outreach, more than 500 NUHW members at Sutter Health reach agreement on new contracts this month.

Read our roundup of the latest labor and healthcare news from top media outlets.

Registered nurses win card check election, strengthening union presence at nonprofit serving San Francisco’s immigrant population.

After NUHW members in Oakland and Richmond struck two years ago to make Kaiser Permanente recognize MLK Day as a paid holiday, they have begun organizing to do the same for Juneteenth.

In September, two years prior to the mid-term election, NUHW will host a Governor Candidate Forum.

Workers at the outpatient MRI clinic will receive on average 23 percent raises in the first year of the agreement.

Rosselli was one of 16 LGBTQ leaders honored this month by both houses of the California State Legislature for their contributions to the state. 

With the university proposing wage freezes and healthcare cuts that would worsen an understaffing crisis, NUHW members picketed hospitals across the Keck-USC system.

2,000 healthcare workers are protesting short-staffing, wage freezes, reductions in healthcare benefits, and Keck–USC’s union-busting tactics.

In the aftermath of a successful strike in Northern California, their counterparts in Southern California are uniting behind a platform to win similar gains.

Maldonado, a janitor at San Rafael Healthcare & Wellness Center, likes to organize teammates on the soccer field and at the workplace.

The five-year agreement includes significantly bigger raises than management had offered before workers held their first work stoppage in more than five years.

On Mental Health Matters Day at the State Capitol, teams of NUHW members and staff met with dozens of lawmakers and their staffers to secure support for two NUHW-sponsored bills.

Long-tenured members at a Marin County nursing home will get 8 percent raises over the next two years in addition to bridge toll reimbursements and more bereavement leave.

More than 150 professionals at the two facilities voted this month to join their colleagues as NUHW members — giving NUHW more than 2,000 members at Providence facilities throughout Northern California.

The Sacramento-based psychologist is a fierce mental health advocate who leads several initiatives to improve access to mental health care for many of Sacramento’s most vulnerable residents.

The first-term Assemblymember from Santa Cruz lost her husband to suicide. Now she’s joining with NUHW to help Californians access the care they need and make health plans provide it.

In a show of strength, nearly 2,000 NUHW members at Keck Medicine of USC, rallied against the university’s attempt to take away their benefits or their right to advocate for patients.

San Diego became the third county in the last six months to urge Kaiser to restore critical patient care time for mental health therapists in Southern California.

More than 2,000 workers filled the streets of Hollywood, marching and chanting before the start of a rally that included remarks from NUHW member Elnora Oseguera.

The SF Labor Council honored NUHW mental health workers for their 10-week strike that forced Kaiser to start making major improvements to its mental health services.

The medical assistant and shop steward at Mission Neighborhood Health Center says being part of a union makes him feel secure and supported.

With some patients being put on a waitlist due to lack of available caregivers, NUHW members at Sutter’s Visiting Nurse Association of Santa Cruz are fighting for better pay with no cuts to their health benefits.

NUHW members from across all facilities are showing up to the negotiations in a united front to win improvements to wages, benefits, and working conditions.

After a long delay due to the university’s legal maneuverings, caregivers at the USC Engemann Student Health Center voted to join more than 2,000 of their colleagues as NUHW members.

The two bills would help patients advocate for their rights and help state authorities hold health plans accountable for providing legally-required health care.

NUHW members at Sutter Health’s Sacramento psychiatric hospital held a three-day strike as they continue to fight for a first contract with fair wages and no healthcare takeaways.

More than 100 medical technicians at MarinHealth Medical Center struck for one day as they fight to protect their health benefits and win strong raises.

Read our roundup of the latest labor and healthcare news from top media outlets.

Sandra Leal-Lopez and her colleagues in Panorama City have been creative in fighting back against Kaiser’s cut to Patient Management Time and they’re gearing up to demand more from Kaiser in contract negotiations.

Workers are fighting for a contract that improves wages, preserves affordable health benefits, and addresses unsafe staffing.

In violation of their contract, the hospital changed its health plan forcing workers to pay up to $6,000 a year to keep access to their doctors and accept a plan with few participating doctors or hospitals.

Read our roundup of the latest labor and healthcare news from top media outlets.

In March, workers fought to restore birthing services at a Providence hospital in Petaluma, while Providence workers throughout the region prepared to bargain a single contract.

In a unanimous vote, the board expressed its opposition to Kaiser's decision to reduce the amount of time therapists have to perform critical patient care duties.

The mental health specialist at Richmond Area Multi-Services wants to be a voice for her colleagues and her community as an NUHW steward.

Read our roundup of the latest labor and healthcare news from top media outlets.

Read our roundup of the latest labor and healthcare news from top media outlets.

The Anesthesia Tech at USC Norris Cancer Hospital is using his bargaining experience as former president of the State Parks Peace Officers Association to serve on his 200-member Keck-USC Contract Bargaining Committee.

After showing resolve with a three-day strike, laboratory and pharmacy workers agreed to a contract that will boost wages 23 percent over three years.

Rachel Kaya is proud of her colleagues in Hawai’i who won a contract from Kaiser Permanente last February after a 172-day strike.

Congresswoman Porter spoke to an audience of nearly 200 supporters at NUHW’s Emeryville headquarters with local electeds and union leaders pledging to help her win the March 5 Primary Election for U.S. Senate.

The bills, authored by Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, would help state regulators hold accountable health plans that violate parity laws and help patients successfully advocate for their right to treatment.

In a major organizing victory, more than 80 rehabilitation therapists, social workers, and dietitians voted overwhelmingly to join their coworkers as NUHW members.

Read our roundup of the latest labor and healthcare news from top media outlets.

Nora, a housekeeper at Sutter California Pacific Medical Center, walked picket lines with her mother before becoming a union leader herself at the San Francisco hospital.

Caregivers who provide services to low-income families in San Francisco agreed to 22 percent raises as part of contract extension that runs into 2028.

The four-year agreement at the Santa Cruz facility will boost wages 18 percent, while capping insurance premium increases and boosting pay for weekend work.

NUHW members stood in solidarity this month with students, parents and teachers in Glendale where far-right agitators have held violent protests and are now seeking seats on the city’s school board.

The bill, which now heads to the State Senate, would require health plans to maintain accurate lists of in-network providers, including mental health therapists.

One year after using their collective power to win a great contract, workers at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center put their power on display once again to oust problem managers in the housekeeping and engineering departments.

Read our roundup of the latest labor and healthcare news from top media outlets.

More than 200 caregivers at three Sacramento-area nursing homes averted severe takeaways in tough negotiations with a new operator.

Having successfully fought to keep their community hospital open through two bankruptcies, NUHW members are now confronting a new owner that is slashing patient care services and worker healthcare benefits.

NUHW nurses save the day at fundraiser.

Fed up with severe understaffing and 18 months of fruitless contract negotiations, nearly 150 NUHW members held a one-day strike December 6 at the Sutter Center for Psychiatry in Sacramento.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors became the first elected body to pass a resolution calling on Kaiser to reverse cuts that leave therapists in Southern California with even less time to perform critical patient care duties.

In a major victory for worker power throughout the Keck-USC healthcare system, nearly 400 workers voted to join NUHW in December.

Employer AMHC has cut employee health benefits to the point that many caregivers can’t afford to access care.

Read our roundup of the latest labor and healthcare news from top media outlets.

Humberto Retana is a marriage and family therapist who got involved with his union to support his coworkers and "stay close to the action."

Local media outlets covered the picket that included several local elected leaders supporting NUHW members, who have been in contract negotiations for 18 months. A one-day strike has been authorized for December 6.

After winning contract, NUHW members take concerns to county sheriff.

Workers at the USC Spine Center are the latest USC employees to join NUHW with more union elections scheduled for December.

In just 18 months NUHW has gone from not representing any hospice workers to representing nearly 400 at five workplaces. The latest to join include workers at Hospice East Bay and Sutter Care at Home Sacramento.

Creight and his nearly 1,800 coworkers are gearing up to win the best contract ever at Keck USC.

The endorsement was decided by NUHW members who voted to endorse the Orange County congress member following a candidate forum during our Leadership Conference in Los Angeles.

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Approximately 20 pharmacy and laboratory workers held a three-day strike demanding wage increases on par with what their NUHW-represented colleagues recently won at the hospital.

NUHW helped spearhead the bill to move California farther along the path to a universal healthcare system through its leadership in Healthy California Now, the state’s largest coalition of single-payer, Medicare for All healthcare advocates.

Kindred Bay Area workers win better salaries and benefits.

In a major victory for Kaiser therapists and patients, Kaiser acknowledged systemic failures in its mental healthcare system and committed to addressing them. The agreement settled two state investigations, one of which found that Kaiser had canceled over 111,000 therapy appointments during last year’s 10-week strike.

Approximately 470 workers at a major Providence hospital voted to join NUHW, while smaller groups workers at two facilities voted to join their colleagues as NUHW members.

Instead of providing adequate staffing levels, Kaiser is seeking to force homecare workers to work across established service lines and service areas, threatening patients with longer waits for care.

Medical Social Workers in Kern County recently won open schedules and ended the practice of booked appointments in their department. The old booking practice had interfered with their autonomy and opened the door for micromanagement.

SB 770, which passed the Assembly in September, would pave the way to guaranteeing healthcare for all Californians.

As NUHW members at Providence hospitals in Northern California prepare to bargain their next contract, union steward Billie Jean Barton is encouraging her coworkers — including her own son — to get involved in the negotiations.

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Following his father’s example, Thomas Christian is outspoken in his advocacy for his co-workers.

Read our roundup of the latest labor and healthcare news from top media outlets.

Seeking the same job security and benefits as their NUHW colleagues, Pasadena Lab workers voted unanimously to unionize.

After a year of paycheck errors that triggered a fierce response from stewards, NUHW members at Queen of the Valley Medical Center secured $250 in penalty pay for any future errors.

In filing complaint with Kaiser’s accreditation agency, NUHW cites HMO’s failure to meet the mental health staffing levels it had agreed to in its Corrective Action Plan.

In part due the mental health timely access law NUHW sponsored, Model of Care Committees in Northern California have made strong recommendations to increase access and reduce caseloads.

NUHW’s newest members at West Anaheim Medical Center will receive average wage increases of 26 percent with some workers securing 61 percent raises over the next three years.

Michael Camarena, a pharmacy tech at West Anaheim Medical Center, is helping lead coworkers in their fight for safe staffing and better pay.

NUHW contract at San Francisco nonprofit includes language helping therapists with immigration paperwork so patients get culturally competent care.

Seven months after voting to join their colleagues as members of NUHW, workers formed picket lines to demand fair treatment and better wages.

Elected officials, including Rep. Katie Porter (shown above), are joining NUHW members in opposing an attempt by Kaiser to reduce the amount of time mental health therapists in Southern California would have for critical patient care duties.

The three-year agreement will boost wages by an average of 22 percent and provide safer working conditions amid a sharp rise in anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes.

Read our roundup of the latest labor and healthcare news from top media outlets.

During his 17 years at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital, Isidro Sanchez has helped build a union that helped workers win respect and significantly higher pay from their employer.

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Shortly before a grievance was set to go to arbitration, Queen of the Valley Medical Center agreed to create a higher-paying Phlebotomist classification and pay several workers who should have been receiving higher wages for over a year.

Elected officials and community allies are supporting NUHW members in their fight for a fair contract.

After sailing through the State Senate, SB 770, a bill that would set the stage for groundbreaking reform of California’s healthcare financing and delivery system, advanced out of the State Assembly’s Health Committee.

Amid growing extremist violence against the LGBTQ+ community, NUHW’s Executive Board voted unanimously to adopt a resolution rejecting LGBTQ+ hate.

The new contracts for more than 1,300 NUHW members include provisions to protect quality pediatric care in the East Bay as well as substantial pay increases and job security protections.

Read our roundup of the latest labor and healthcare news from top media outlets.

Whether it’s singing, reciting poetry, or defending her colleagues, the mental health counselor at Richmond Area Multi-Services never hesitates to make herself heard.

Read our roundup of the latest labor and healthcare news from top media outlets.

The annual mental health advocacy event in Sacramento presented an opportunity for NUHW members to meet peers and inform the public about our ongoing parity work.

Nearly two dozen workers at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center voted to join more than 1,700 of their Keck-USC colleagues as NUHW members.

New agreement includes the highest wage scale of any Kindred hospital in Southern California.

Chanting “Keep OB Open,” dozens of workers protested the closure of Petaluma Valley Hospital’s birthing center and vowed to continue fighting to reopen it.

More than 1,300 NUHW members are preparing for a potential three-day strike after UCSF refused to make movement in contract negotiations following a one-day strike in April.

In a unanimous ruling, an appeals court revived a class-action lawsuit by families of Kaiser Permanente patients who claim they or their loved ones did not receive adequate mental health care. The ruling is now legal precedent in California.

SB 770 aims to make California the first state to guarantee its residents a standard set of comprehensive, high quality health benefits.

The highly-respected Seton Medical Center social worker and case manager helped her colleagues secure their first contract.

NUHW was named Organization of the Year by the Stonewall Democratic Club, the largest LGBTQ+, feminist, and progressive political advocacy organization in Southern California.

The newest NUHW members want to improve care for their patients, while securing fair wages and better working conditions.

SB 770 would set California on a path to becoming the first U.S. state to create a healthcare system in which no resident is denied care based on age, employment, disability, income, immigration status, or any other characteristic.

Workers at the USC Downtown Clinic overwhelmingly voted to join NUHW, while our union's more than 1,700 members at Keck-USC helped their colleagues beat back the university's attempt to deny raises to new NUHW members at the Roski Eye Institute.

Since a 2014 affiliation agreement put UCSF Health in control of the non-profit 223-bed Oakland hospital and satellite clinics, NUHW members and their colleagues have repeatedly raised concerns about UCSF under-resourcing care in the East Bay.

Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital radiology tech uses her retail and teaching experience to advocate for coworkers

Investigation by California regulator confirms hundreds of complaints filed by NUHW members about the hospital’s unsafe staffing levels.

After failing to accomplish their goals in their previous contract campaign, workers at Providence Cedars Sinai Tarzana Medical Center built unprecedented unity to win bigger raises and other gains this year.

Several years before prosecutors filed a lawsuit against Providence for sending debt collectors after patients who qualified for free care, NUHW members were blowing the whistle on its charity care violations in California.

After re-opening their contract last year, the workers secured a 10 percent retroactive raise as well as an additional bonus and better benefits.

At its annual Architects of Justice Awards banquet this month, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice honored the approximately 850 nurses and professional workers at the Tenet hospital who joined NUHW last year and won a contract with strong raises and patient protections.

Petaluma Valley Hospital ultrasound tech brings her fighting spirit from the tennis court to her Providence (St. Joseph) hospital.

The three-year agreement preserves pensions and includes guaranteed raises without which Kaiser stood to lose even more therapists, resulting in even longer appointment wait times for patients.

With Providence (St. Joseph Health) seeking to close the birthing center at Petaluma Valley Hospital in violation of its purchase agreement, caregivers are joining forces with community leaders to save the facility.

Fighting to preserve their patient-first principles amid layoffs and cutbacks, the Sonoma County workers united behind the organizing drive.

Sutter halted merit raises after workers voted to join NUHW, but workers stayed united, fought back and settled a complaint requiring that Sutter restore the raises with interest.

After more than a year at the bargaining table, workers won 16 percent raises over three years.

With worker support for joining NUHW crystal clear, the hospital chain opted to recognize their union rather than to request a formal vote.

Read our roundup of the latest labor and healthcare news from top media outlets.

The Sacramento Bee recently ran a commentary about a tool designed by Healthy California Now and NUHW letting Californians calculate how much money they’d save if the state adopted a single-payer Medicare for All healthcare system. Find out how much you'd save.

NUHW experienced strong growth in 2022 as well as unprecedented interest from healthcare workers interested in unionizing.

After fighting to win penalty pay for payroll mistakes last summer, NUHW members at Providence hospitals acted fast to prevent the healthcare giant from illegally doubling payroll deductions after another payroll error.

In a sit-down interview, Sabrina Chaumette, a Kaiser therapist in Oakland, reflects on last year's strike by NUHW-represented clinicians in Oakland and Richmond that forced Kaiser to finally honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid holiday.

The vote by RNs and therapists marks the latest organizing victory for NUHW in the Sutter system.

Raises will average 40 percent over four years under the agreement, which also includes making Martin Luther King, Jr. Day a paid holiday.

Several U.S. senators have written Kaiser CEO Greg Adams calling on Kaiser to settle a contract with its mental health therapists.

Joined by parents and community leaders, hundreds of workers called on UCSF to agree to contractual provisions that would safeguard jobs and medical services in the East Bay.

After walking picket lines with her colleagues during what was the longest strike ever by mental healthcare workers, the Kaiser therapist made more history last year by becoming the first Black mayor of Santa Rosa.

Read our roundup of the latest labor and healthcare news from top media outlets.