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

See all the locations for the Southern California Kaiser Permanente mental health workers' strike.

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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 […]

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

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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 […]

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.

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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.

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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.

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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 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.

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.

“Aaron has stood with healthcare workers on every picket line and been on the right side of every fight," said NUHW President Emeritus Sal Rosselli.

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.

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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.

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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.

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

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.

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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.

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