Union activity in healthcare continues in 2026, with nearly a dozen reported strikes since the beginning of the year. Some of these actions involve healthcare workers and leaders across hospitals and clinics in multiple states.
Below are the strikes tracked by Becker’s so far this year:
Editor’s note: This article was created Jan. 28 and will be updated throughout the year.
1. Members of two unions shared plans to strike for one day Feb. 18 at MarinHealth Medical Center in Greenbrae, Calif. The strike involves more than 700 nurses represented by the California Nurses Association and 500 members of Teamsters Local 856, including respiratory therapists, anesthesia technicians, emergency department technicians, phlebotomists, surgical technologists, certified nursing assistants, environmental services aides and food service workers.
2. Registered nurses and licensed medical professionals at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana (Calif.) Medical Center began a five-day strike Feb. 16. The strike involves members of Service Employees International Union Local 121RN, which represents more than 11,000 registered nurses and other healthcare professionals in California.
3. More than 3,000 pharmacy and lab workers represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers ended a three-day strike Feb. 12 at Kaiser Permanente facilities across Southern California and Kern County. The walkout was separate but coordinated with an open-ended walkout by the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals, which is ongoing as of Feb. 18. The UNAC/UHCP strike began Jan. 26 and involves 31,000 registered nurses and healthcare professionals across more than two dozen Kaiser hospitals and hundreds of clinics in California and Hawaii.
4. About 2,100 nurses and healthcare workers from four hospitals operated by Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare shared plans to strike this month across California and Nevada. One-day strikes are planned Feb. 18-19 at facilities in Reno, Nev., and Redding, Calif., while a three-day strike was slated to begin Feb. 17 at West Anaheim Medical Center in Anaheim, Calif. Nurses at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood, Calif., rescinded their strike notice after reaching a tentative agreement with the hospital.
5. Members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers began a three-day strike Jan. 27 at Kindred Hospitals in Brea and Westminster, Calif. The union represents 155 workers at Kindred Hospital Brea and 160 workers at Kindred Hospital Westminster, including nurses, nursing assistants, housekeepers and respiratory therapists.
6. Members of Teamsters Local 760 began an open-ended strike Jan. 17 at MultiCare Yakima (Wash.) Memorial Hospital. The union represents 168 technical employees, including staff in surgery, radiology, MRI, pharmacy and laboratory departments, according to NonStop Local. The strike is ongoing as of Feb. 18.
7. Nearly 15,000 nurses across four New York City hospitals began an open-ended strike on Jan. 12. As of Feb. 18, nurses at Montefiore, Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Morningside and West have ratified new three-year contracts, covering about 10,500 nurses across the two health systems. About 4,200 nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian remain on strike.
