US healthcare workers walk off the job: 27 strikes in 2023

Healthcare workers have participated in labor strikes across the U.S., citing concerns about staffing, patient care, working conditions and employee retention. 

Twenty-seven strikes reported by Becker's Hospital Review this year:

Note: This article was updated on Nov. 28 and will continue to be updated.

1. More than 2,400 nurses at three HCA Healthcare hospitals in Southern California launched a five-day strike Nov. 22 in the sixth month of contract negotiations. The striking nurses and other medical professionals, who are represented by SEIU 121RN, work at HCA's Riverside (Calif.) Community Hospital, West Hills (Calif.) Hospital and Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks. 

2. Members of the Illinois Nurses Association launched a two-day strike Nov. 21 at Ascension Saint Joseph-Joliet (Ill.), their second two-day strike in three months. The union represents more than 500 nurses at the facility. The hospital is part of St. Louis-based Ascension, one of the nation's largest nonprofit and Catholic hospital systems.

3. Members of the Illinois Nurses Association launched a two-day strike Nov. 14 at Howard Brown Health and Brown Elephant locations around the Chicago area. The union represents various roles at the healthcare clinic system, from nurse practitioners to retail employees, according to a Nov. 12 INA news release shared with Becker's. Howard Brown Health is a federally qualified health center with 11 clinics.

4. Members of UFCW 3000 launched a five-day strike Nov. 14 at two Providence Regional Medical Center Everett (Wash.) campuses. The union represents about 1,300 nurses at the hospital, according to a UFCW 3000 news release. Providence Regional Medical Center Everett is part of Renton, Wash.-based Providence, which has 117,000 employees total across seven states.

5. Members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555 launched a weekslong strike Nov. 1 at five Kaiser Permanente locations in Washington and Oregon. The union represents hundreds of Kaiser imaging technicians, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. Kaiser is an Oakland, Calif.-based nonprofit organization with locations in Georgia, Hawaii, California, Colorado, Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Oregon. 

6. Members of the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, AFT Local 5017, began a five-day strike Oct. 23 at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, Wash., and PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center in Longview, Wash.

7. Members of the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West began a five-day strike Oct. 23 at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Calif.

8. Workers began a three-day strike Oct. 4 at Kaiser Permanente hospitals and medical office buildings in California, Colorado, Washington and Oregon, and a one-day strike in Virginia and the District of Columbia.

9. Members of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals and the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West began a five-day strike Oct. 9 affecting four Prime Healthcare facilities in California. 

10. Members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee went on strike Sept. 25 at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital in St. Louis.

11. Members of the Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 40 began a three-day strike Sept. 11 at Ascension Providence Rochester (Mich.) Hospital. 

12. Members of the California Nurses Association went on strike Sept. 6 at Cedars-Sinai Marina del Rey Hospital.

13. Members of the Illinois Nurses Association began a two-day strike Aug. 22 at Ascension Saint Joseph-Joliet (Ill.). 

14. Members of SEIU 121RN launched a 10-day strike Aug. 18 at Garfield Medical Center in Monterey Park, Calif.

15. Members of SEIU Healthcare Illinois entered the second week of a strike Aug. 7 over what they allege are substandard wages and the urgent need for safe staffing at Chicago-based Loretto Hospital.

16. Members of United Steelworkers Local 4-200 went on strike Aug. 4 at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J. As of Nov. 28, the strike was ongoing.

17. Members of Service Employees International Union Healthcare Michigan went on strike Aug. 4 at Trinity Health Grand Haven (Mich.) Hospital.

18. Members of the Rochester Union of Nurses and Allied Professionals began a two-day strike Aug. 3 at Rochester (N.Y.) General Hospital. 

19. Nurses who went on strike at Ascension Via Christi St. Joseph and Ascension Via Christi St. Francis hospitals in Wichita, Kan., and Ascension Seton Medical Center in Austin, Texas, returned to their scheduled shifts beginning the morning of July 1. The strike involved members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee, an affiliate of National Nurses United. 

20. Nurses and clinicians began a five-day strike June 19 at Providence Portland Medical Center, Providence Seaside Hospital, and Providence Home Health and Hospice, all in Oregon. The strike involved members of the Oregon Nurses Association, a union that represents about 1,800 nurses and clinicians at the three organizations. 

21. Members of the Committee of Interns and Residents and Mount Sinai in New York City reached a tentative agreement May 24, ending a three-day strike at NYC Health + Hospitals' Elmhurst Hospital Center.

22. Members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers went on strike April 19 at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland (Calif.).

23. Members of United Public Workers ended their nearly two-month strike in April at Maui Health hospitals by approving a new contract. 

24. Members of UE Local 1004 held a strike March 20 at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Valencia, Calif.

25. In February, Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente reached a tentative agreement with members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers to end a mental health workers' strike in Hawaii, which was ongoing for about six months.

26. Thousands of New York City nurses ended their strike in January after reaching tentative contracts. Members of the New York State Nurses Association went on strike for three days at Mount Sinai Medical Center on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

27. After a nine-day strike, members of the California Nurses Association returned to work Jan. 2 at Sutter Health's Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, which has three campuses in Oakland and Berkeley.

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