Media Contacts
Local 5: Angelina Spence, Communications Organizer, UNITE HERE Local 5, (808) 391-6988, [email protected]
HNHP: Kekoa McClellan | (808) 393-7937 | [email protected]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SEPTEMBER 22, 2025
Thousands of Hawai‘i Kaiser Permanente workers authorize strike across four islands
HONOLULU,HI–Over 2,000 Kaiser Permanente workers in Hawai‘i represented by UNITE HERE Local 5 (Local 5) and Hawaii Nurses and Healthcare Professionals (HNHP) have voted to authorize a strike. Local 5 members voted 97% “Yes” to authorizing a strike and HNHP members from three bargaining units voted 89% giving union leadership the ability to call a strike if necessary after contracts expire on September 30.
Key priorities for workers include safe staffing that protects workers’ wellbeing and quality patient care and fair wage increases. In Hawai‘i workers in some classifications are paid up to 30% less than their counterparts on the continent and do not receive the same benefits.
“I am ready to strike if we need to because we need Kaiser to take our concerns about short staffing seriously and make a real commitment to addressing them,” said Diana Echalas, LPN, Kaiser Wailuku Medical Offices, 21 years of service. “Kaiser needs to do more to make sure we have the proper amount of staff and we are able to retain that staff. Constantly working short-staffed is exhausting and it is demoralizing to feel like we can’t give our patients the best care possible.”
“The results of our strike authorization vote make it clear, we’re ready to do whatever it takes to settle a new contract that puts our patients first and addresses our staffing and workload concerns,” said Cade Watanabe, Financial Secretary-Treasurer, Local 5. “We’re proud of the level of care we provide our community everyday and Kaiser remains a great place to get quality care – if you can get it; but why should Hawai‘i health care workers be compensated less than our counterparts on the mainland?”
“Our members believe in treating patients like family and have continued to do this despite the continued challenges post Covid, where they gave 200% of themselves to be there for Kaiser. They are burnt out with the continued staffing challenges and experienced staff leaving the bedside thus causing a staffing mix that is less than desirable and taxing to all caretakers,” said Terilyn Carvalho Luke, President, HNHP. “We need Kaiser to treat us, the employees, with respect and a commitment to work together to solve the issues around staffing. Our members deserve to have a fair contract that has the best working conditions, wages and benefits to attract and retain the best healthcare workers at Kaiser.”
“As frontline healthcare professionals, patient care is the center of our compass. We provide the best service and quality of care and advocate for our patients every day. WE are their voices and our members need a voice at the table to ensure that we can continue to provide the high quality service and care every patient deserves,” said Y.David Schoen, RN in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Local bargaining began in April and national bargaining began in May with Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest not-for-profit healthcare system.
Local 5 represents more than 1,900 Kaiser Permanente including hospital aides, medical assistants, pharmacy techs, lab assistants, dietary specialists, housekeeping, and more. HNHP represents 1,200 Kaiser Permanente workers including nurses, nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists, and lab professionals.
Contracts expire on September 30 and October 1 for 52,000 Kaiser Permanente staff across the U.S. – nurses, therapists, technicians, lab staff, service and technical workers, and other professionals – represented by various unions that make up the Alliance of Healthcare Unions (Alliance). To date, unions representing 46,000 Kaiser workers have voted to authorize strikes in California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington state, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia.
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About UNITE HERE Local 5
Local 5 represents 10,000 workers throughout Hawaii who work in the hospitality, health care and food service industries and is an affiliate of UNITE HERE, an international union that represents over 250,000 workers throughout the U.S. and Canada. For more information, visit www.unitehere5.org.
About Hawaii Nurses and Healthcare Professionals (HNHP)
Hawaii Nurses and Healthcare Professionals represents 1200 workers throughout Hawaii at all Kaiser facilities, including home health. HNHP is an independent and united union of nurses, nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists, and lab professionals. For more information, visit www.hnhp.org
About the Alliance of Healthcare Unions
The Alliance of Healthcare Unions (Alliance) is a federation of 23 local unions representing over 62,000 Kaiser Permanente employees. The Alliance includes locals of AFSCME, UFCW, USW, IBT, KPNAA, IUOE, OFNHP (AFT), UNITE HERE, ILWU, and HNHP. Our members work in hundreds of job classifications in every geographic area where Kaiser Permanente has a presence.
