Kaiser Permanente workers strike over pay and staffing

Tens of thousands of Kaiser Permanente nurses and other health care workers walked off the job Tuesday in a five-day strike across California, Hawaii and Oregon, pressing the large nonprofit health system for higher wages and more staff. Organizers said about 31,000 frontline workers began the action and that it could expand to as many as 46,000; in Hawaii roughly 2,300 Kaiser employees joined local picket lines.

The walkout followed months of bargaining between Kaiser and the Alliance of Health Care Unions, which represents a broad range of licensed professionals. Contracts for tens of thousands of unionized Kaiser employees expired at the end of September, and union leaders say stalled talks over pay, staffing and benefits left them with no choice but to strike. The United Nurses Associations of California Union of Health Care Professionals called the action the largest in its history.

At the center of the dispute are competing proposals for wage increases. Union negotiators have sought a 25 percent raise over four years, down from an earlier demand of 38 percent, which they say is needed to keep pace with inflation and the high cost of living in places such as Hawaii. Kaiser...