Registered nurses and other unionized health care workers at over 500 Kaiser Permanente hospitals and clinics in California, Oregon and Hawaii agreed to end a five-day strike on Sunday as planned and return to the bargaining table on a new contract.

The coalition of unions, represented by the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP), has been advocating for increased wages, better retirement benefits and more robust staffing at Kaiser health care centers, but Kaiser Permanente said in a statement that the main issue was wages.

“While the Alliance has publicly emphasized staffing and other concerns, wages are the reason for the strike and the primary issue in negotiations,” a spokesperson for the health care provider said.

The union coalitio

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