San Diego Kaiser Healthcare Workers Strike Over Staffing, Pay
SAN DIEGO, CA – october 14, 2025 – Thousands of healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente facilities across San Diego walked off the job today, initiating a strike demanding improved staffing levels, fair wages, and benefits. The strike, impacting multiple Kaiser locations, began at 8 a.m.and is scheduled to last through Sunday.
The action comes after months of stalled negotiations between the healthcare workers, represented by their union, and Kaiser Permanente management. workers say chronic understaffing is compromising patient safety, while Kaiser maintains its latest proposals offer competitive compensation and enduring costs. The strike underscores a growing national trend of healthcare worker unrest fueled by pandemic-related burnout and increasing demands for improved working conditions.
Registered Nurse Sarah Avey explained the core issue isn’t solely about compensation. “It’s about patient safety,” she said. “Patients are sicker and care is more complex, but staffing levels haven’t kept pace with the growing needs. They’re not just at low-risk deliveries or low-risk pregnancies anymore. They need to have that quality care, more attention on them, and it’s just really tough because I am so stretched thin.”
Union leaders assert years of short-staffing have driven healthcare professionals to leave the field, increasing the burden on those remaining. Avey emphasized the potential risks to patients, stating, “I’m delivering babies every day. If an emergency happens, and I don’t have the right staff to help me get through that, then it is detrimental to our patients, and our patients’ lives are at risk.”
Negotiations began in May, with the union seeking wage increases to address the rising cost of living. Kaiser Permanente officials state their proposals aim to balance fair pay with the need to maintain affordable healthcare for patients.
Kaiser has announced it is indeed utilizing temporary licensed staff to ensure continued patient care during the strike, characterizing the work stoppage as “unneeded and disruptive.”
For striking worker Fatima Moghaddam, the motivation is clear: “Taking care of the people that really need to be taken care of. And those are the patients that walk in every day,in every hospital,every clinic,every O.R. room.”
both the union and Kaiser Permanente have confirmed negotiations are ongoing as the strike enters its second day.
