For nearly seven months, they donned NUHW T-shirts, held picket signs and chanted outside of Kaiser facilities in Riverside and Fontana in what became the longest mental health strike in U.S. history.
But on February 28, NUHW members at Kaiser Permanente in California’s Inland Empire dressed to the nines and basked in the cheers of their fellow union workers with the Inland Empire Labor Council, who named them 2026 Trade Unionists of the Year.
“People were coming up to us and saying ‘Great work! Way to stand together!’” said Jessica Rentz, an NUHW steward and bargaining team member in Fontana, who was one of six clinicians on hand to receive the award. “I was just happy to be with my colleagues dressed up and honored for our sacrifice. It felt great to be recognized by our brother and sister unions and celebrate with them as well.”
In what quickly became a grueling strike, the Inland Empire Labor Council provided indispensable support, setting up food drives, bringing supporters to the picket lines and allowing workers like Rentz, a delegate to the council, to give updates at monthly meetings.
“We fought hard for almost seven months to win a contract that improves patient care,” Rentz told the attendees at the Labor Council’s COPE Banquet where they received their award. “It was a battle but we never lost hope and we never stopped pushing the envelope.”
During her speech, Rentz noted that workers engaged in civil disobedience, held a five-day hunger strike and shared a stage with Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
“But we didn’t do any of this alone, we did it with a movement of allies alongside us,” Rentz told the audience. “We did it with all of you.
“Despite going unpaid and unheard by Kaiser for more than six months, we sustained ourselves by banding together and supporting each other.
The longer we were out on the picket line, the stronger we became, and we locked in determined to win this fight…. And in the end our colleagues built a collective campaign that secured better wages, benefits and patient protections that will benefit millions of Kaiser patients.”
Rentz and her fellow stewards are continuing the momentum they built during the strike. They’ve started a newsletter to keep everyone informed about what’s happening at Kaiser and about colleagues’ latest victories including stopping Kaiser from forcing workers to make up hours after management closed a clinic early in Sylmar.
“I’m so proud of how strong we are as a bargaining unit,” Rentz said. “We’re not letting them push us around. We’re more vocal and supportive of each other.”
