Thousands of SoCal UFCW Kaiser Lab and Pharmacy Employees Set to Begin Unfair Labor Practice Strike After Unions Issue 10-Day Notice
ULP strike set to begin on Monday, February 9, 2026
SAN DIEGO – United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Southern California local unions representing Kaiser Permanente pharmacy and laboratory employees have delivered a 10-day Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike notice to Kaiser Permanente. The ULP strike is set to begin on Monday, February 9, 2026, at Kaiser facilities throughout Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura, and Kern Counties, to protest Kaiser’s labor violations throughout negotiations that have prevented frontline healthcare workers from getting the fair contract they deserve. Picketing will take place at select medical centers throughout the region.
UFCW Kaiser employees will launch their ULP strike to raise their concerns at the same time as 31,000 Nurses and Healthcare Professionals with UNAC/UHCP are out on their own strike, which started Monday, January 26.
Negotiations have been stalled for more than a month after Kaiser management walked away from the bargaining table. UFCW Local 135 and other unions with the Alliance of Healthcare Unions filed Unfair Labor Practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), alleging Kaiser unlawfully refused to bargain in an attempt to bypass the agreed-upon national bargaining process and interfere with good-faith negotiations that had been ongoing since April 2025.
“Issuing a 10-day Unfair Labor Practice strike notice is not a decision we take lightly,” says UFCW Local 135 Secretary-Treasurer and union negotiator Grant Tom. “Kaiser’s refusal to return to the National Bargaining table leaves us no choice. Our members want to care for patients and reach a fair contract but that can’t happen when Kaiser walks away from negotiations. We are calling on Kaiser to end the delays, bargain in good faith, and deliver the fair wages, safe staffing, and respect our healthcare professionals deserve.”
BACKGROUND
UFCW Southern California Locals 135, 324, 770, 1167 and 1428 represent 4,000 Kaiser Permanente frontline healthcare employees who work as pharmacy assistants, pharmacy technicians, clinical lab scientists, medical lab technicians, and clinical and administrative healthcare workers at numerous Kaiser locations throughout Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura, and Kern counties. UFCW Local 135 in San Diego County represents over 500 members in the pharmacy and labs.
National negotiations have been stalled since December. The contract covering UFCW pharmacy employees expired November 1, 2025, and the one covering UFCW CLS/MLT employees in the labs expires February 1, 2026.
Kaiser frontline healthcare workers are protesting the company’s labor violations throughout negotiations that have prevented them from getting the fair contract they deserve.
Key timeline:
Kaiser Permanente broke off national bargaining in December 2025.
UFCW and Alliance of Healthcare Unions filed Unfair Labor Practice charges against Kaiser Permanente for suspending national collective bargaining negotiations earlier this month.
UNAC/UNCP began an open-ended ULP strike Monday, January 26, 2026, their second strike since negotiations started.
Southern California UFCW Kaiser employees issued a 10-day ULP strike notice on January 29 and are set to conduct a ULP strike on February 9.
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UFCW Local 135 is San Diego’s largest private sector union, representing more than 11,000 workers in grocery, retail, healthcare, food processing, and the cannabis industry. UFCW Local 135 is part of the 1.3 million-member strong UFCW International Union.