UCSF Children’s Hospital Oakland (Calif.) and its satellite clinics are bracing for an open-ended strike set to begin June 18. Representing more than 1,300 employees, the National Union of Healthcare Workers recently approved the action in a bid to halt the University of California’s planned integration of the hospital with San Francisco-based UCSF Health, according to a union news release shared with Becker’s.
Union members contend the plan would cancel their union contracts, force workers into UC unions and reduce their take-home pay by about $10,000 annually on average, primarily due to higher health and retirement benefit costs. They also argue the move would leave patients with fewer caregivers.
“This is a naked money grab by the University of California against workers in Oakland that will result in less care and fewer caregivers for children in the East Bay,” Jackki Patrick, a patient care assistant at the hospital, said in a news release shared with Becker’s.
UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals first affiliated with UCSF in 2014, and the integration plan was announced in January 2025. It calls for the transition of Benioff Oakland staff to University of California employment, effective in early July. UCSF leaders say the change will allow employees to participate in UC benefit plans and access broader resources available to UCSF Health employees.
UCSF Health also said the integration will support a $1.6 billion investment to modernize the Oakland campus, which includes a new hospital building expected to open in 2031.
“UCSF Health’s goal in unifying our workforce is to deliver even better care for children in the Bay Area,” the health system said in a statement shared with Becker’s. “It is critical to delivering on our $1.6 billion investment in UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, which will allow us to serve more patients with high-quality care, accommodate state-of-the-art technology and transform care services to meet the pediatric needs of our local community and the entire region.
“With this project, we are modernizing our emergency department and trauma care, creating 20 new inpatient beds to meet the mental and behavioral health needs of children, creating a new NICU with private rooms, and expanding and modernizing our operating rooms with the latest technology,” the statement continued.
“The integration and modernization are central to UCSF Health’s strategy to become the leading provider of excellent pediatric care for all Bay Area children, regardless of their ability to pay, in spaces that will support leading-edge care,” the statement said.
NUHW said it filed a grievance over the health system’s plan, alleging it violates the subcontracting prohibition in its union contracts with the hospital. The union has also filed a lawsuit seeking to compel arbitration. A federal judge is scheduled to hear the case June 26, according to the union.
Meanwhile, NUHW workers are preparing to strike. NUHW-represented workers authorized to strike include nursing assistants, respiratory therapists, housekeepers, clerical workers and medical technicians whose contracts expired in April, but remain effective.
UCSF Health said that for the strike period, “operational planning is well underway to minimize disruption and sustain continuity across hospital services during the strike.”
