31,000 California Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers begin 5

More than 40,000 Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers began a strike Tuesday morning across the West Coast.

The strike marks the largest action in the history of the union representing the workers, the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP). Over 500 hospitals across the West Coast – mainly in California, Oregon and Hawaii – are affected by the walkout, including several in the Los Angeles area.

“Kaiser employees are launching a 5-day strike against Kaiser Permanente — not because they want to, but because they have to,” the union said in a media release.

Of the union’s 46,000 striking members, a total of 31,000 are California-based. They include registered nurses, pharmacists, nurse anesthetists, nurse practitioners, midwives, physician