SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Thousands of Kaiser Permanente nurses and healthcare workers in San Diego walked off the job this morning, citing unsafe staffing conditions and unfair labor practices as the driving forces behind their strike decision.
The union says patient safety concerns have left them with no choice but to take action, while Kaiser Permanente maintains that patient care will continue uninterrupted during ongoing negotiations.
Roughly 31,000 members of the United Nurses Associations of California and the Union of Health Care Professionals are participating in the strike at Kaiser Permanente facilities across San Diego and California.
"I'm here for my patients, plain and simple, very simply things inside are not right, and we are fighting for them," said Desiree Nack, a Kaiser Permanente nurse.
Nurses say conditions at the hospitals are deteriorating, with staffing shortages creating dangerous situations for patients.
"If I can't be in that 1-to-1 ratio I should be in based on national standards, then I may miss something before it's too late, and then we end up in a huge emergency and patients, moms, and babies' lives are at risk as a result of that," said Ashley Serrano, a Kaiser Permanente nurse.
Several nurses voiced concerns about being unable to provide proper care due to what they describe as unsafe staffing levels, which they say causes delayed care for patients.
"I look at everybody like you are my mother, my grandmother, you're my best friend, and I'm going to take care of every person like that, and I can't do that if I don't have all the things we need," said Elisabeth Cochran, a Kaiser Permanente nurse.
Union members have been bargaining with Kaiser since May 2025. Kaiser says they proposed a 21.5 percent wage increase, calling it their strongest national bargaining offer ever. Nurses are asking for a 25 percent increase but emphasize their main concern is patient safety.
"There's not 30,000 people striking over a 4 percent difference that's absurd, the reason 30,000 people are striking is because it's unsafe in there, we have too high of turnover," Serrano said.
In a statement, Kaiser officials said, "Despite the union's claims, the strike is about wages. The strike is designed to disrupt the lives of our patients -- the very people we are all here to serve."
Kaiser says their doors remain open and it is prepared to finalize a contract. Nurses say they will stay on strike until a deal is reached.
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