Union issues 10-day strike notice for Kaiser Permanente facilities on Maui, California

Physical therapy and pharmacy providers at Kaiser Permanente facilities on Maui are among 31,000 health care professionals who have issued a 10-day notice of intent to strike. The work stoppage is scheduled to begin Jan. 26.

The United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals delivered the notice to Kaiser executives recently. The union represents workers at Kaiser facilities on Maui, including clinics in Kīhei and Lahaina, the Maui Lani Elua Clinic, the Maui Lani Medical Office and Wailuku Medical Office, according to Jeff Rogers, a communications specialist for the union.

While the union represents nurses at Maui Memorial Medical Center, those employees are not part of this work stoppage. Nurses at the hospital secured their own contract at the beginning of 2025. Hospital operator Maui Health and the union reached a tentative agreement in December 2024 after a three-day strike by more than 900 hospital workers in November.

In a statement, Kaiser Permanente said all its facilities “will remain open for regular operations.” The health care provider noted that UNAC/UHCP is one of several unions in the Alliance of Health Care Unions and that management has “not received a strike notice at this time from the other Alliance unions.”

Negotiations between the union and Kaiser have been ongoing since the previous contract expired on Sept. 30. The union previously conducted a five-day work stoppage in October. According to the union, negotiations have been stalled for more than a month.

In December, the union filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging Kaiser attempted to bypass the agreed-upon national bargaining process.

Kaiser Permanente management disputes the characterization of the negotiations. In a media statement regarding a “path forward” in bargaining, Kaiser said it paused national bargaining in December following an incident involving a union leader. Management reported that it is now moving open items to local bargaining tables to resolve the remaining issues.

“We stand by our historic offer of a 21.5% wage increase over the length of the contract,” Kaiser said.

Union members involved in the potential strike include pharmacists, rehab therapists, speech language pathologists, dietitians, nurse anesthetists, nurse practitioners, midwives, physician assistants and other specialty health care professionals. While the vast majority of the membership is in California, the union represents workers in Hawaiʻi who would be involved in the picket lines.

Charmaine Morales, the union president, said the strike is intended to secure better standards for workers and patients.

“We’re not going on strike to make noise,” Morales said. “We’re authorizing a strike to win staffing that protects patients, win workload standards that stop moral injury, and win the respect and dignity Kaiser has denied for far too long.”

“Kaiser can end this whenever they choose by coming back to the table and bargaining in good faith. Until they do, we are done waiting. Striking is the lawful power of working people, and we are prepared to use it on behalf of our profession and patients,” she added.

The union claims that while Kaiser holds billions of dollars in reserves, patients are experiencing delays in care due to understaffing.

Federal law requires health care unions to provide a 10-day notice prior to a strike to allow hospitals and clinics time to ensure continuity of patient care.