Wednesday, February 11, 2026

Kaiser Pharmacy Workers End Three-Day Strike as Nurses’ Open-Ended Walkout Continues

STAFF REPORT

[Courtesy UNA UHCP via Facebook]

More than 3,000 UFCW members return Thursday while 31,000 UNAC/UHCP health care professionals remain on picket lines at the Pasadena-headquartered system

More than 3,000 pharmacy and laboratory workers are ending a three-day unfair labor practice strike against Kaiser Permanente on Thursday, but approximately 31,000 nurses and health care professionals remain on an open-ended walkout at the Pasadena-regional headquartered health system that has closed some pharmacies and labs and disrupted services for millions of Southern California members.

The pharmacy and lab workers, represented by United Food and Commercial Workers locals across Southern California, walked off the job at 7 a.m. Monday, February 9, joining nurses and other professionals represented by the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals who have been striking since January 26. The UFCW said its members will return to work at 5 a.m. Thursday, February 12. The nurses’ strike has no scheduled end date.

Kaiser said the UFCW walkout involved 2,424 pharmacy employees and 929 clinical lab scientists at facilities in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura and Kern counties, according to a company statement provided to City News Service. The broader UFCW coalition represents over 4,000 frontline workers including pharmacy assistants, pharmacy technicians, clinical lab scientists, medical lab technicians and administrative workers, according to the union.

Both unions said their strikes are in response to unfair labor practices. In December, UFCW and other unions in the Alliance of Health Care Unions filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board alleging Kaiser unlawfully refused to bargain and attempted to bypass the national bargaining process, according to union officials. UNAC/UHCP said it filed its own unfair labor practice charge on December 17, 2025. Kaiser said it paused national bargaining on December 14 and has rejected the unions’ characterizations.

The contract covering UFCW pharmacy employees across Southern California expired November 1, 2025, and the contract covering clinical lab scientist and medical lab technician employees expired February 1, 2026, according to the union. The UNAC/UHCP contract expired September 30, 2025, the union said.

The UFCW said the three-day walkout was a targeted action. “This ULP strike was designed to apply immediate, public pressure on Kaiser to end its unlawful behavior and return to bargaining in good faith,” the UFCW 324 bargaining committee said in an update to members. “Having shown our strength, unity, and resolve, we will return to work on Thursday, February 12 at 5:00 AM.”

UFCW Local 135 told its members that returning to work does not end the dispute. “Returning to work does not mean this fight is over,” the local said in a strike update. “It means you showed your strength, applied pressure, and are prepared to escalate again if Kaiser refuses to do the right thing.”

“We are fed up with being overworked, disrespected, undervalued, and with Kaiser’s illegal attempts to intimidate us out of getting a fair contract,” said Angelica Muro, a pharmacy technician at Kaiser Permanente in West Los Angeles, in a UFCW 770 press release.

UNAC/UHCP, whose approximately 31,000 members include registered nurses, pharmacists, nurse anesthetists, midwives, physician assistants and other health care professionals, said its open-ended strike would continue. Geraldine Doronio, a certified registered nurse anesthetist and member of the national bargaining team, said in a union statement that “Kaiser has ghosted us. Our bargaining teams have reached out for dates multiple times with absolutely no response — not even a courtesy reply.”

Kaiser said it has offered its strongest compensation package in the company’s national bargaining history. “Our contract proposal is the strongest compensation package in Kaiser Permanente’s national bargaining history and keeps employees among the best-paid caregivers in the country,” said Camille Applin-Jones, RN, senior vice president for Kaiser Permanente Southern California. “The total pay increase we are offering, including step increases, amounts to roughly 30% over the length of the contract, not including proposed benefits enhancements.”

Kaiser said it has proposed a 21.5% base wage increase and has shifted remaining unresolved national issues to 53 local bargaining tables. Greg Holmes, executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Kaiser, said in a statement that union members have lost wages during the strikes. “At this point, Alliance employees have lost 4 months of the wage increases represented in our offer — and UNAC/UHCP employees participating in this union’s open-ended strike can add the loss of their existing wages for each week they continue striking,” Holmes said, according to Healthcare Dive.

Kaiser said employees already earn on average about 16% more than similar roles at other health care organizations, according to a company statement reported by CBS Los Angeles. Kaiser called the strikes “unnecessary” and “disruptive.”

The two sides have presented different characterizations of the wage dispute. Kaiser said UNAC/UHCP’s demand amounts to a 63% wage increase for nurses, which the company called unsustainable, according to Healthcare Dive. UNAC/UHCP said it initially sought a 38% increase over four years and reduced its request to 25%, according to the Pasadena Star-News.

Kaiser and UNAC/UHCP have also offered conflicting accounts on the question of whether union members face consequences for returning to work. Kaiser said it was “concerned” that workers “are being threatened by their union with fines for coming back in to care for patients.” UNAC/UHCP said in a statement that the claim is false. “UNAC/UHCP does not fine members for returning to work,” the union said.

Kaiser said its hospitals, emergency departments and all medical offices have remained open throughout both strikes, though some pharmacies and labs have been closed, according to a statement provided to City News Service. The company said some appointments have shifted to virtual care and certain non-urgent procedures have been rescheduled. Kaiser said it has expanded contracted services, brought in employees from other regions and worked with community partners, commercial laboratories and retail pharmacy networks.

Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California regional operations are headquartered at 393 E. Walnut St. in Pasadena. The company also operates medical offices at 3280 E. Foothill Blvd. in Pasadena. Both the UNAC/UHCP and UFCW strikes have affected facilities serving Pasadena-area patients, according to Pasadena Now.

Kaiser members can check which pharmacies are open by visiting kp.org/locations and searching by ZIP code, or by visiting kp.org/SCALOpenPharmacies. The company said non-urgent prescriptions can be refilled through mail-order pharmacy at kp.org/pharmacy or through the Kaiser Permanente app, with estimated delivery in three to five days. Members with scheduled appointments during the strike should not cancel or reschedule, according to Kaiser.

The UFCW pharmacy and lab workers are scheduled to return at 5 a.m. Thursday. The UNAC/UHCP strike continues with no announced end date. Both unions and Kaiser are part of the Alliance of Health Care Unions structure, a coalition of 23 unions representing more than 60,000 Kaiser employees, according to Healthcare Dive. National bargaining has not resumed as of Wednesday, February 11, 2026.