The nearly five-week strike by 31,000 registered nurses and other workers at Kaiser Permanente is over, with union members returning to work on Tuesday, Feb. 23.
In a statement, the union said its members are going back to work while “final negotiations are completed.”
The likely end of the protracted walkout comes after last week saw more than 40% of union workers cross picket lines and go back to work.
With town hall and video conferencing meetings scheduled Monday, the union posted a message via Facebook directing its workers with Kaiser to return to work at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 24, according to a Los Angeles affiliate of the United Nurses Association of California/Union of Health Care Professionals.
“Our bargaining teams will continue working to wrap up outstanding issues and work to close the remaining gaps. We are much closer than we were,” acording to the UNAC/UHCP.
Also see: Nurses dig into rainy day funds to keep Kaiser strike going
The union said it stopped all picket lines in California and Hawaii on Monday while it navigates the “return-to-work agreements.”
Shortly after the Facebook post, union spokeswoman Meghan Murphy confirmed that workers were returning in the largest “open-ended nurses strike in U.S. history.”
A Kaiser representative was not immediately available for comment Monday morning.
“Our four-week strike — the largest open-ended registered nurses and health care professionals strike in the United States — has been very powerful and has prompted significant movement at the table in the past 48 hours,” UNAC/UHCP said. “Returning our members to patient care and their livelihoods is the clearest path to success as we capitalize on the progress you made possible.”
An alliance of some 31,000 workers with UNAC/UHCP walked off the job Jan. 26.
The two sides are negotiating to replace a four-year contract that expired Sept. 30. The union is seeking higher wages and benefits, plus more hiring to fill staffing shortages. It initially sought a 38% pay hike over four years and is now seeking a 25% raise.
It’s unclear how the latest development affects two other UNAC/UHCP union groups that have threatened to strike.
About 500 UNAC/UHCP optometrists recently voted to authorize a strike if a deal is not reached before their contract expires Feb. 28. The optometrists have not yet issued a10-day notice to strike.
On Monday, Feb. 23, the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 501 said it would begin a three-day strike against Kaiser due to an unfair labor practice complaint it filed against Kaiser for refusing to bargain in good faith. The 500 facilities maintenance workers across 17 Kaiser locations in Southern California recently delivered a 10-day notice to Kaiser executives.
The IUOE Local 501 agreement with Kaiser began Oct. 1, 2021, and expires June 30. The union represents operating engineers at Kaiser facilities, fire system operators, field service engineers, repair technicians, biomedical equipment technicians and maintenance assistants and “tool crib” attendants who watch over inventory of tools and equipment.
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