Kaiser nurses to hold 24-hour sympathy strike March 18 in solidarity with Kaiser mental health workers

More than 23,000 Kaiser nurses across Northern California will hold a 24-hour sympathy strike in solidarity with National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) on Wednesday, March 18, California Nurses Association (CNA) announced today. Nurses will sympathy strike with NUHW mental health therapists from 6 a.m. on March 18 to 6 a.m. on March 19 and join picket lines in solidarity at several locations.

"An injury to one of us is an injury to all of us, so nurses will be standing in solidarity with our mental health therapy colleagues as they go on strike," said CNA President Michelle Gutierrez Vo, RN at Kaiser Permanente in Fremont, Calif. "We know working people have to stand together, and we're proud to stand alongside Kaiser therapists as they fight for meaningful, commonsense protections for our patients and for working people."

NUHW's strike announcement details therapists' issues with Kaiser's implementation of artificial intelligence, a key concern for Kaiser nurses, as well. NUHW fears Kaiser may attempt to replace therapists with artificial intelligence. CNA nurses have been clear that health care workers cannot be replaced with A.I. CNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United (NNU), the country's largest nurses union, which has identified several key practice concerns regarding A.I. implementation.

"Nurses decided we would sympathy strike with our NUHW colleagues because, together, we can show Kaiser management that health care workers stand united on having a voice to speak up," CNA board member Dolores Trujillo, RN at Kaiser in Roseville, Calif. "We won't stay silent while executives try to push untested and potentially unsafe or ineffective A.I. on our patients."

CNA registered nurses will be holding sympathy strikes on March 18 at locations including:

Oakland Medical Center
3600 Broadway, Oakland, Calif.
Picketing 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Sacramento Medical Center
2025 Morse Ave., Sacramento, Calif.
Picketing 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Fresno Medical Center
7300 N. Fresno St., Fresno, Calif.
Picketing 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Santa Clara Medical Center
700 Lawrence Expressway, Santa Clara, Calif.
Picketing 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Santa Rosa Medical Center
401 Bicentennial Way, Santa Rosa, Calif.
Picketing 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

California Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation with more than 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California and more than 225,000 RNs nationwide.