Press Release: Kaiser ULP Strike
Press Release | January 29, 2026
BREAKING: Thousands of Southern California UFCW Kaiser Lab and Pharmacy Employees Set to Begin Unfair Labor Practice Strike February 9 After Unions Issue 10-Day Notice
The Southern California UFCW ULP strike could seriously hinder hospital operations in the middle of flu season; UFCW Local 770 Kaiser Pharmacy employees postpone previously announced ULP strike to join larger wave on February 9
LOS ANGELES - United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Southern California locals representing Kaiser Permanente pharmacy and laboratory employees have delivered a 10-day Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike notice to Kaiser Permanente executives. The ULP strike is set to begin on Monday, February 9 at Kaiser facilities throughout Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura, and Kern Counties, to protest Kaiser’s labor violations throughout negotiations that have prevented frontline healthcare workers from getting the fair contract they deserve. Picketing will take place at select Kaiser medical centers throughout the region.
UFCW Kaiser employees will launch their ULP strike to raise their concerns at the same time as 31,000 Nurses and Healthcare Professionals with UNAC/UHCP are out on their own ULP strike, which started Monday, January 26.
Negotiations have been stalled for more than a month after Kaiser management walked away from the bargaining table. In December, UFCW 770 and other unions with the Alliance of Healthcare Unions filed Unfair Labor Practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), alleging Kaiser unlawfully refused to bargain in an attempt to bypass the agreed-upon national bargaining process and interfere with good-faith negotiations that had been ongoing since April 2025.
“Our message to Kaiser is clear: we will not be silenced,” said Zhayne Serang, a Clinical Laboratory Scientist at the Anaheim Medical Center. “After repeated unfair labor practices, KP lab employees are ULP striking because Kaiser has continually refused to bargain in good faith. They need to stop delaying, stop focusing on union-busting tactics meant to divide us, and get back to negotiating a fair contract.”
“We are fed up with being overworked, disrespected, undervalued, and with Kaiser’s illegal attempts to intimidate us out of getting a fair contract,” said Angelica Muro, a pharmacy technician at Kaiser Permanente in West Los Angeles. “When workers are punished for speaking up about safety and workload, patients pay the price through longer waits and delayed prescriptions. Kaiser’s actions don’t just violate labor law, they violate the trust our patients place in us every day.”
UFCW 770 previously issued a 10-day ULP strike notice on January 26 for select pharmacy employees that was set to begin on February 3, 2026. They have since retracted their 10-day notice in order to align with a larger wave of thousands of UFCW Kaiser employees who will be starting their ULP strike on February 9, 2026.
BACKGROUND
UFCW Southern California Locals represent over 4,000 Kaiser Permanente frontline healthcare employees who work as pharmacy assistants, pharmacy technicians, clinical lab scientists, medical lab technicians, and clinical and administrative healthcare workers at numerous Kaiser locations throughout Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura, and Kern counties.
With national negotiations stalled since December, this ULP strike threatens to disrupt hospital operations and pharmacy services at the height of flu season. The contract covering UFCW pharmacy employees across Southern California expired November 1, 2025; the contract covering UFCW CLS/MLT employees across Southern California expires February 1, 2026.
These Kaiser frontline healthcare workers are protesting the company’s labor violations throughout negotiations that have prevented them from getting the fair contract they deserve.
Key timeline:
Kaiser broke off national bargaining in December 2025.
UFCW and Alliance of Healthcare Unions filed Unfair Labor Practice charges against Kaiser Permanente for suspending national collective bargaining negotiations earlier this month.
UNAC/UNCP began an open-ended ULP strike Monday, January 26, 2026, their second strike since negotiations started.
Southern California UFCW Kaiser employees issued a 10-day ULP strike notice on January 29, and are set to ULP strike on February 9.
