BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — More than 31,000 Kaiser Permanente nurses and health care professionals have ended their five-day strike and returned to work, citing new momentum and broad community support in their fight for safer staffing levels.
The strike began Oct. 14 at over 500 hospitals and clinics across California and Hawaii, with caregivers demanding safer staffing and better patient care conditions.
Union leaders say this week marked a turning point in their negotiations, particularly after the Joint Commission released new national standards during the strike that officially recognize safe staffing as a patient safety requirement rather than just an employer choice.
The United Nurses Associations Coalition/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) says this regulatory shift gives workers stronger footing when they return to the bargaining table with Kaiser on Oct. 28.
The union says the message is clear: under staffing puts patients at risk, and they're ready to continue fighting for a contract that puts patient care first.
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