Healthcare workers strike Kaiser Permanente

With no deal on a fair contract, over 45,000 healthcare workers across multiple states hit the strike line this morning, including 4,000 workers in the Pacific Northwest

PORTLAND, OR (October 14, 2025) — Healthcare workers sporting red shirts poured out of medical facilities and onto the strike line at 7:00 a.m. this morning, walking off the job after stalled negotiations with Kaiser Permanente for a fair contract. Nearly 4,000 healthcare workers in Oregon and Southwest Washington represented by the Oregon Federation of Nurses & Health Professionals – AFT Local 5017 (OFNHP) are joined on strike by another 41,000 healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente locations in California and Hawaii, standing together to fight for better working conditions and patient care. Nation-wide, this is the biggest strike of the year.

OFNHP President Sarin Roher (center) and members on Tuesday. Photo: SEIU Local 49

The PNW workers’ contract expired September 30. After months of bargaining, healthcare workers voted to strike once it became clear that their voices were not being heard at the table. Management’s intransigence over key issues like staffing, fair pay, and including the voices of frontline workers in patient care decisions have left many workers frustrated.

“I started with Kaiser eight years ago, when it used to show a great deal of respect to its workers; I don’t see that now,” said Natalie Yaquab, an operating room nurse, in a statement. “Because of short staffing, nurses like myself are burned out. I’m seeing high turnover rates because caregivers just don’t want to work for Kaiser as long as it refuses to make changes that will allow us to give our patients the best care possible.”

A strike is a last resort for healthcare workers, who know how essential their work is for the patients and communities they serve. Kaiser’s statements to media seek to paint healthcare workers fighting for fair pay and a voice in working conditions as “disruptive,” and that paying a fair wage would require them to increase patient costs, despite $66 billion in reserves. But beyond the dubious math, Kaiser’s position downplays the stressful conditions healthcare workers are under. Data indicates healthcare workers are showing up to care for patients under unprecedented strain, still working under difficult conditions years after the peak of the COVID pandemic. Kaiser’s refusal to meaningfully engage with workers’ proposals to address issues like burnout ultimately harm not just workers, but patients as well. If Kaiser can’t retain healthcare workers, the quality of patient care inevitably drops.

“No one who dedicates their life to caring for patients ever wants to walk off the job, but Kaiser has left us no choice,” said Sarina Roher, OFNHP President. “For months we’ve been at the table, ready to bargain in good faith. What we’ve asked for are real solutions to the staffing crisis, fair wages that let workers stay in our communities and a voice in how care is delivered. Kaiser’s response has been to delay and disregard.”

Workers and allies will be manning the lines from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm, Tuesday through Saturday. Picket locations are as follows:

• Kaiser Westside Medical Center—2875 NE Stucki Ave., Hillsboro, Ore.
• Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center—10180 SE Sunnyside Rd., Clackamas, Ore.
• Interstate Medical Center-Central—3500 N. Interstate Ave., Portland, Ore.
• Cascade Park Medical Center—12607 SE Mill Plain Blvd., Vancouver, Wash.
• Kaiser Longview-Kelso Medical Center—1230 7^th Ave., Longview, Wash.
• Kaiser North Lancaster—2400 Lancaster Dr. NE, Salem, Ore.

During the strike, OFNHP is calling on labor and community supporters to stand with healthcare workers.

Here are three ways to support the workers:

1. Sign the open letter to Kaiser CEO Greg Adams urging him to protect patient care and settle a fair contract.
2. Sign up to join the workers on the line
3. Donate to the OFNHP hardship fund

Supporters can also sign up to get updates from OFNHP.