What Union Worker Strikes Have Meant for Long Beach

Kaiser nurses and health care workers went back to work last week on Tuesday, but the contract has yet to be signed off. The United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) had been on strike for four weeks.

Over 31,000 nurses and health care professionals with UNAC/UHCP ended a historic strike against Kaiser Permanente in California and Hawaii on February 24. Described as the largest open-ended health care strike in U.S. history, the action focused on safe staffing, patient care and contract disputes.

February also saw another strike, with skilled trade workers at Cal State Long Beach and the other CSU campuses protesting for four days.

Teamsters Local 2010, representing 1,100 skilled trades workers, began a four-day strike across all 22 California State University (CSU) campuses from February 17-20. The union has been protesting what it calls unfair labor practices and the university system’s failure to pay contractually obligated salary increases. The union says that it’s ready to sit back down at the table and negotiate for raises.

How have patients been affected by the strike?

Kaiser Permanente has medical facilities throughout Southern California, including 16 hospitals and 197 medical offices. Kaiser has more than 8,000 physicians providing care for the region’s 4.9 million Kaiser Permanente members, and it’s one of the largest medical groups in the U.S., the company says.

The closest Kaiser hospitals to Long Beach are in Downey, Harbor City, Los Angeles (one on Sunset Blvd. near Vermont Ave., and one in West Los Angeles), Anaheim and Irvine. According to anecdotes and coverage by local news media, Kaiser patients were sometimes sent to large medical facilities for lab tests, pharmacies and treatment as some of the other medical officers were closed down, or had limited hours, during the strike.

Downey is the largest medical center in the Long Beach area, with its hospital and separate medical buildings on the complex. Patients complained about having to wait in line one-to-two hours to pick up their prescription medications.

The Long Beach pharmacy remained open during the strike, as did the Harbor City pharmacy and urgent care center.

“We have been informed by UNAC/UHCP leadership that they have accepted our offer of across-the-board wage increases of 21.5%. This is good progress and moves us closer to a contract agreement,” said Kaiser Permanente Southern California media contact Carol Soudah in an email response.

“The union has called off its strike as of Tuesday, February 24. We are working with our teams to schedule returning employees over the coming days, in an orderly way that protects patient safety and minimizes any disruption. We will be providing employees guidance on how and when they can return to their normal schedule.

“Our bargaining with UNAC/UHCP and each of the Alliance of Health Care Unions continues at local tables. We are continuing to make progress and remain optimistic about reaching contract agreements soon,” Soudah wrote.

UNAC/UHCP says that the strike was necessary as Kaiser had been dragging out negotiations last year. The union had carried out a five-day strike against Kaiser Permanente across California and Hawaii from Oct. 14–19, 2025. The strike targeted chronic understaffing, heavy workloads and demands for better pay.

“Kaiser Permanente – a $76 billion health care giant – chose to walk away from the bargaining table. It filed delay after delay. It refused to bargain in good faith over the staffing issues that its own health care professionals were raising as patient safety emergencies,” the union’s statement says.

“When Kaiser finally presented wage numbers, it did so as a weapon – framing its ‘maximum offer’ not as a good-faith effort to retain health care professionals who deliver its care, but as leverage to shut down any further conversation about staffing, workload and safety. Kaiser’s position was, in essence: take the money and stop asking about the patients,” UNAC/UHCP says.

The union says that solutions are being included in the new contract, including deployment of a new internal nurse registry to cover short-staffed units such as during the middle of the night when it matters the most; a more accurate and representative form of “paper staffing” where charge nurses and break-relief nurses are in place to make sure nurses assigned are there for their patients and staffing gaps don’t become dangerous; and extending safer staffing standards into clinic and ambulatory settings for health care professionals.

“The union was demanding wage increases of up to 63% over four years, at a time when health care costs are rising, and millions of Americans are at risk of losing access to health coverage. We have remained committed to reaching agreements that recognize the vital contributions of our employees while ensuring excellent, affordable care for our members. Our offer of 21.5% across-the-board wage increases accomplishes that balance,” Soudah says.

Soudah says that Kaiser Permanente is working hard on restoring normal operations for staff and patients. Some patients were called to reschedule appointments for any postponed care. Kaiser members can access the local facility page at: https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/southern-california/doctors-locations#/simple-form to confirm services and hours of operation before visiting one of the Kaiser medical offices.

Additionally, members continue to have 24/7 access to same day care through Get Care Now on kp.org and the KP app. Members should continue to visit kp.org for the latest information, Soudah says.

Mail order pharmacy with no-cost shipping is available for most nonurgent new or refill prescriptions.​ Visit kp.org/pharmacy or the Kaiser Permanente app, then select the “mail order” option.

What Happened in Teamsters Strike

The CSU Chancellor’s office is located in downtown Long Beach. The CSU issued the following statement on the Teams​ters Local 2010 s​trike:​ ”The CSU values its employees and remains committed to fair, competitive pay and benefits for our skilled trades workforce through the collective bargaining process with the Teamsters. It is unfortunate that the Teamsters is advancing false claims to justify a strike, harming both their members and the broader university community.

“Agreements matter. The Teamsters agreed, in writing, to reopen bargaining if a certain level of new, ongoing funds were not received in 2025. That’s exactly where we are. The CSU has been bargaining in good faith, and we urge the Teamsters to honor their commitment and return to the table.​

“​We hope the Teamsters will return to good-faith negotiations so we can reach an agreement as soon as possible.”

The International Brotherhood of Teamster, Local 2010, issued a statement on Feb. 23 that included this section:

“Our statewide ULP (unfair labor practices) strike was an overwhelming success. Across all 22 campuses, not only did we turn away trucks and shut down construction sites simply by withholding our essential labor, we impacted daily campus operations across the state in a big way. Leaks went unfixed, buildings flooded, elevators were out of order, pipes stayed clogged and more. Supervisors panicked as they tried to maintain campus infrastructure during a week of torrential rain, hail and snow. We exposed – for all of California to see – CSU’s greed, dishonesty and mistreatment of workers.”

“When we return to the bargaining table, we’ll sit down with the power of the longest and most effective strike in CSU’s history at our side,” The Teamsters Local 2010 statement said.

Jon LeSage is a resident of Long Beach and a veteran business media reporter and editor. You can reach him at jtlesage1@yahoo.com.