Kaiser workers strike again in Bay Area

For the third time in nearly as many months, thousands of Kaiser Permanente employees are on strike in the Bay Area — this time with no end in sight to the work stoppage at California’s largest health provider.

About 2,800 Kaiser nurse anesthetists, occupational, speech and physical therapists, and other professionals walked off the job at 7 a.m. Monday in Northern California. In the Bay Area, hundreds of workers flocked to picket lines at Kaiser hospitals in Oakland and Santa Clara, where they rang cowbells and brandished signs demanding increased pay and staffing. They’re among more than 30,000 Kaiser employees striking in California and Hawaii.

The labor unions say they plan to remain on strike until they reach an agreement.

Kaiser says the union’s demands would make coverage even less affordable. Workers counter that the health giant can afford to boost wages, and that patients are already suffering from long wait times and subpar care because Kaiser does not offer competitive pay. Negotiations have been stalled for months, and neither side appears close to backing down.

Both sides say the strike will disrupt hospital operations.

Kaiser notified patients over the weekend that “nearly all” of their hospitals and medical offices would remain open during the strike, including emergency rooms and pharmacies. Health care staffing agencies are posting lucrative job offers for traveling workers, and Kaiser management said it is onboarding staff to cover shifts during the stoppage.

“Most appointments, procedures, and care will continue uninterrupted,” Kaiser officials said in a statement. “We’ll contact members in advance if their care is affected — and do everything possible to limit disruptions.”

Daniel Bell, a bargaining leader with the United Nurses Associations of California and a certified nurse anesthetist at the Vacaville Medical Center, said the strike will inevitably affect patient care — “not something that we love,” he said.

“The moment Kaiser decides that they want to finish this deal, we’re happy to be at the table and to make that deal happen,” Bell said.

Negotiations broke down in September between the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals and Kaiser management. Billions of dollars are at stake over the life of the contract.

Neither side has changed its proposals for months: Kaiser is offering a 21.5% raise over four years, while the union is seeking a 25% increase. In the meantime, the two sides have traded scathing accusations of bad faith and even blackmail. Workers went on a planned five-day strike in October.

Several employees interviewed Monday at the Oakland picket line said they were generally satisfied with their current pay.

Mark Van Riper, a physical therapist at Kaiser’s Antioch Medical Center, estimated the starting salary for a Kaiser physical therapist at about $100,000 a year. A certified nurse anesthetist for Kaiser starts at $130 an hour in Northern California, Bell said.

But they said Kaiser’s pay still lags behind other Bay Area hospitals such as Stanford Medicine and UCSF — leading to understaffed clinics, long delays and rushed visits.

Van Riper said he and his colleagues typically see between 12 and 14 patients per day, making visits feel like a “factory.”

Bell said some patients wait six months for spine surgery and nine months for a joint replacement.

Union leaders argue Kaiser can afford their proposal.

Kaiser Permanente and its affiliated nonprofit, Risant Health, reported $2.6 billion in net income in the third quarter of 2025, following $3.3 billion the previous quarter. The union has cited an analysis by the Center for Media and Democracy, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit watchdog, which found Kaiser holds more than $67 billion in reserves — up $27 billion from four years ago.

Kaiser’s proposed 21.5% raise would cost nearly $2 billion over the life of the contract, spokesperson Elissa Harrington said in an email.

“We think we can find enough ways to cut our other costs to pay for this, without further increasing our members’ costs,” she said.

But the union’s proposal for a 25% wage increase would add another $1 billion in costs, “making health care less affordable for our members and customers,” Harrington said. She added that Kaiser is one of the “best-paying employers in health care.”

The strikes come as Kaiser raises costs for patients and health providers across California brace for tighter margins following cuts to federal health spending. Republicans in Congress declined to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies last year, triggering higher premiums for many enrollees.

For 2026, Kaiser raised premiums 7% for plans purchased through Covered California, the state’s health insurance marketplace. About a quarter of Californians who purchase health insurance through Covered California have Kaiser plans.

At the Oakland Medical Center, Gabby Grady, a physical therapist at Kaiser’s San Francisco Medical Center, bounced her one-year-old baby, Quinn, in the crowd. It was her child’s first labor strike, she said.

The atmosphere on the picket line was jubilant. About 200 workers filled the sidewalk, the air thrumming with music, cowbells and drivers honking their horns in solidarity.

Grady said the workers have no intention of backing down.

“I feel like it’s important to hold our ground now,” she said. “If we show them any weakness, they’ll continue to exploit that.”