Hundreds of healthcare workers and union members hold a Labor Day march on Monday, Sept. 4, 2023, from Los Feliz Elementary School to Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center on Sunset Boulevard. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
In what they’re calling the largest health care worker strike in United States history, thousands of Kaiser Permanente workers across the Bay Area hit the picket lines on Wednesday morning as they seek increases in pay and solutions to understaffing in facilities across the country.
RELATED: Kaiser workers go on strike around Bay Area: Five things to know
Striking workers include a group of about 75,000 across the country — with about 23,000 of those being in the Bay Area. United Healthcare Workers West, a union representing many of the striking employees, said workers would picket at Kaiser Medical Centers in San Jose; Oakland; Fremont; Redwood City; Santa Clara; Antioch; Richmond; San Francisco; South San Francisco; San Leandro; Walnut Creek; Vallejo; and Santa Rosa.
Picket lines were also active across Southern California, as well as Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
At @KPThrive San Jose, we’re ready! #United4All #SolidaritySeason pic.twitter.com/rlNUqCgu2v
— SEIU-UHW #United4All (@seiu_uhw) October 4, 2023
The health care giant, which operates hospitals in eight states and Washington D.C., says all hospitals and emergency departments will remain open during the strike, but wait times could increase and non-urgent appointments may be rescheduled. Kaiser urged patients to order medications by mail at kp.org/pharmacy or by calling, in Northern California, 1-888-218-6245.
The California workers were set to strike from 6 a.m. Wednesday until 6 a.m. Saturday. Striking workers include lab technicians, pharmacists and some vocational nurses.
The start of the strike Wednesday continued what has become a pattern of disputes between Kaiser and labor organizers. Just last year, mental health professionals walked out amid demands that the health care provider increase staffing. In 2021, facilities were affected as health care workers participated in a sympathy strike as engineers engaged in a dispute lasting months.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Originally published at Austin Turner