As 31,000 nurses and healthcare professionals prepared for an open-ended strike beginning January 26 against Kaiser Permanente, the healthcare system filed a lawsuit aimed at breaking up the national union alliance that has coordinated bargaining. Kaiser filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on January 21, alleging that the United Nurses Associations of California / Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) and its alliance partners breached obligations under the national bargaining agreement and have not bargained in good faith.
Kaiser’s strategy seeks to splinter national bargaining into local contracts, allowing the company to offer competing compensation packages to reduce costs. The lawsuit also cited an 83-page union report accusing Kaiser of “fraudulent practices, endangering the health and safety of its patients, and other unethical and unlawful activity.” Kaiser stated it “does not see a path to an agreement through national bargaining” and is moving unresolved national issues to local bargaining tables. UNAC/UHCP, the largest of 23 bargaining units in the Alliance of Health Care Unions representing over 60,000 Kaiser employees, disputes Kaiser’s position. Secretary Liz Hawkins said, “They’re saying they are under no obligation to bargain as a group. They’ve pushed that national agreement to local conversations. We disagree with that.”
The strike is the second in six months, following a five-day walkout in October. Kaiser has recruited thousands of travel nurses to replace striking workers. The union initially sought a 38% pay hike over four years but reduced its demand to 25%, while Kaiser offered 21.5%. An independent mediator, former state Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly, has been jointly retained to assist negotiations. Picketing is scheduled to begin at more than two dozen hospitals and 200 clinics across California and Hawaii, including all major Kaiser facilities in Southern California, Northern California, and Honolulu.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.sgvtribune.com/2026/01/23/days-before-strike-begins-kaiser-fires-legal-salvo-to-break-up-nurses-alliance/