Kaiser Nurses Plan 24-Hour Strike in Solidarity with Healthcare Workers

Kaiser Nurses to Join Sympathy Strike in Northern California

Over 23,000 nurses at Kaiser in Northern California are set to participate in a 24-hour sympathy strike in support of the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) on Wednesday, March 18, as announced by the California Nurses Association (CNA). This demonstration of solidarity will coincide with NUHW mental health therapists' strike, beginning at 6 a.m. on March 18 and concluding at 6 a.m. on March 19, with nurses joining the picket lines at multiple sites.

“An injury to one of us is an injury to all of us, so nurses will be standing in solidarity with our mental health therapy colleagues as they go on strike,” stated CNA President Michelle Gutierrez Vo, RN, affiliated with Kaiser Permanente in Fremont, Calif. “We know working people have to stand together, and we’re proud to stand alongside Kaiser therapists as they fight for meaningful, commonsense protections for our patients and for working people.”

The NUHW’s strike announcement highlights concerns about Kaiser’s use of artificial intelligence, a shared issue for nurses. There is apprehension that AI could potentially replace human therapists. CNA has emphasized that human healthcare workers are irreplaceable by A.I. The National Nurses United (NNU), with which CNA is affiliated, has identified several key practice concerns regarding the use of A.I.

According to CNA board member Dolores Trujillo, RN from Kaiser in Roseville, Calif., “Nurses decided we would sympathy strike with our NUHW colleagues because, together, we can show Kaiser management that health care workers stand united on having a voice to speak up. We won’t stay silent while executives try to push untested and potentially unsafe or ineffective A.I. on our patients.”

Sympathy strikes by CNA registered nurses are planned for March 18 at the following locations:

Oakland Medical Center
3600 Broadway, Oakland, Calif.
Picketing 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Sacramento Medical Center
2025 Morse Ave., Sacramento, Calif.
Picketing 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Fresno Medical Center
7300 N. Fresno St., Fresno, Calif.
Picketing 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Santa Clara Medical Center
700 Lawrence Expressway, Santa Clara, Calif.
Picketing 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Santa Rosa Medical Center
401 Bicentennial Way, Santa Rosa, Calif.
Picketing 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

California Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation with more than 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California and more than 225,000 RNs nationwide.