Thousands of health care workers are expected to walk off the job at Kaiser facilities throughout the Bay Area and beyond this week for what is planned to be a five-day strike.

Starting at 7 a.m. Tuesday and running through 7 a.m. Sunday, 31,000 registered nurses, pharmacists, physician assistants, rehab therapists, speech language pathologists and other advanced care providers will walk off the job at hundreds of Kaiser locations in California and Hawaii to try to get Kaiser to agree to their demands for a new contract. Kaiser said its hospitals and facilities will remain open during the strike.

The United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals, which represents the workers, said the walkout will be the largest strike in its history.

The workers authorized

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