Union activity in healthcare continues in 2026, with 21 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. Nurses represented by Teamsters Local 332 at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital in Grand Blanc, Mich., ended a 411-day strike after ratifying a new contract Oct. 20. The agreement includes a 13% increase for below-market wages, new shift and weekend pay rates, staffing ratio protections and seniority rights for striking nurses.
2. More than 150 physicians represented by Doctors Council-SEIU held a four-day strike beginning Sept. 14 at Allina Health’s Mercy Hospital campuses in Coon Rapids and Fridley, Minn. The physicians, who have been bargaining for a first contract for more than three years, reached a tentative three-year agreement with Minneapolis-based Allina Health days after the strike ended.
3. About 200 workers represented by SEIU District 1199 ended a strike at Cleveland Clinic Lutheran Hospital in Cleveland after ratifying a new three-year contract Oct. 8. The strike began Sept. 23 and lasted more than two weeks. The agreement includes wage increases totaling nearly 11%, higher shift differentials and additional pay for employees with six or more years of service.
4. More than 60 hospice nurses at Minneapolis-based Allina Health, represented by SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa, began a seven-day strike Sept. 11 after the union and health system did not reach a deal during their latest bargaining session, according to the union. The nurses previously held a one-day strike July 6 as they seek their first union contract after more than a year of negotiations.
5. More than 2,200 nurses and healthcare workers at four hospitals operated by Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare held one-day strikes Sept. 3. The walkouts involved workers at West Anaheim (Calif.) Medical Center, Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nev., Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago and Shasta Regional Medical Center in Redding, Calif.
6. About 950 members of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania at Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College ended a five-day strike Aug. 1 without a new contract in place. The strike was the bargaining unit’s first since 2004. The hospital and union later reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, subject to ratification by union members.
7. More than 4,000 nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and about 450 clinicians at Mass General Brigham Home Care, both represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, ended overlapping strikes July 13 and July 15, respectively. The actions centered on wages, staffing and, for home care clinicians, caseloads and productivity standards after more than a year of bargaining.
8. Nearly 1,800 nurses represented by National Nurses United held one-day strikes July 6 at three Ascension hospitals: Via Christi St. Francis and St. Joseph in Wichita, Kan., and St. Agnes in Baltimore. Nurses at the two Wichita hospitals had been negotiating a new contract since March, while St. Agnes nurses have been bargaining for a first contract since January 2024 and had previously struck in July 2025.
9. About 178 registered nurses at MyMichigan Medical Center Alma, represented by the Michigan Nurses Association, held a three-day strike July 3-6. The nurses’ contract had expired in February, and the hospital’s final offer included no raise in the first year and 1% increases in each of the following two years.
10. Registered nurses at St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago, part of Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare, held a one-day strike June 11 as they seek to unionize. About 400 registered nurses are in the proposed bargaining unit.
11. Nurses at Houlton (Maine) Regional Hospital, who are represented by the Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, began a four-day strike May 26. The union represents 55 nurses at the 25-bed hospital.
12. Nurses at University Medical Center New Orleans, represented by the National Nurses Organizing Committee, an affiliate of National Nurses United, held a five-day strike beginning May 1, the hospital’s sixth since October 2024. The union represents more than 600 nurses at the hospital.
13. Members of Teamsters Local 760 ended a nearly two-month strike at MultiCare Yakima (Wash.) Memorial Hospital in March. The union, which represents about 170 technical employees — including workers in surgery, radiology, MRI, pharmacy and laboratory departments — began the strike Jan. 17.
14. More than 23,000 Kaiser Permanente nurses represented by the California Nurses Association held a 24-hour sympathy strike March 18 at facilities across Northern California, joining a one-day strike by approximately 2,400 mental health therapists, social workers and psychologists represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers. Stationary engineers represented by IUOE Local 39 also held a sympathy strike.
15. Members of SEIU Local 121RN representing more than 1,000 nurses at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Calif., held a five-day strike March 2-6. The strike followed a five-day walkout at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center that ended Feb. 21.
16. Members of two unions held a one-day strike Feb. 18 at MarinHealth Medical Center in Greenbrae, Calif. The strike involved 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.
17. Registered nurses and licensed medical professionals at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana (Calif.) Medical Center began a five-day strike Feb. 16. The strike involved members of Service Employees International Union Local 121RN, which represents more than 11,000 registered nurses and other healthcare professionals in California.
18. 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. The 31,000 UNAC/UHCP nurses and healthcare professionals who began an open-ended walkout Jan. 26 returned to work Feb. 24 after the union accepted Kaiser’s offer of 21.5% across-the-board wage increases. Members ratified the contracts in March, with agreements set to expire Sept. 29, 2029.
19. About 2,100 nurses and healthcare workers from hospitals operated by Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare struck in February. One-day strikes took place Feb. 18-19 at facilities in Reno, Nev., and Redding, Calif., while a three-day strike began 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.
20. Members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers held a three-day strike in January 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.
21. Nearly 15,000 nurses across four New York City hospitals began an open-ended strike on Jan. 12. After 41 days, all groups have ratified new three-year contracts. Nurses at Montefiore and Mount Sinai ratified contracts Feb. 11, and approximately 4,200 nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian ratified a new three-year contract Feb. 21 and began returning to work the week of Feb. 23.
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