Here are 13 petitions for unionization, strikes, contract deals and other developments in the healthcare workforce that occurred in March, as reported by Becker’s:
1. Registered nurses at six Tenet Healthcare facilities in California ratified a new three-year labor contract March 26. The agreement was approved with 93% support across the facilities and covers covers nearly 3,000 nurses at San Ramon Regional Medical Center, Doctors Hospital Manteca, Doctors Medical Center in Modesto, Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock, Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs and Hi-Desert Medical Center in Twentynine Palms. The agreement runs from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2028.
2. Duluth, Minn.-based Essentia Health and the Minnesota Nurses Association reached a new labor contract for nurses at the Miller Hill Surgery Center March 23. The three-year contract covers roughly 23 nurses at the Essentia-owned ASC and will be effective through March 31, 2029. An agreement was reached over four negotiating sessions.
3. Nurses at Aspirus Lake View Hospital in Two Harbors, Minn., ratified a labor contract. The agreement covers 24 members of the Minnesota Nurses Association and expires Sept. 30, 2028,
4. Members of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals ratified labor contracts covering about 31,000 registered nurses and healthcare professionals at Kaiser Permanente facilities in California and Hawaii. The agreements were approved by an overwhelming majority after about a year of bargaining.
5. A unionization effort by cancer clinicians at Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham is on hold as the health system seeks a review of the proposed bargaining unit’s structure from the National Labor Relations Board.
6. Healthcare workers at Samaritan Healthcare & Hospice in Mount Laurel, N.J., and Inspira Health in Mullica Hill, N.J., voted to join the Health Professionals and Allied Employees in separate National Labor Relations Board elections. The vote at Samaritan covers about 160 workers, including registered nurses, advanced practice nurses, nurse practitioners, field nurses, clinical educators, social workers, bereavement counselors, spiritual support counselors and music therapists
7. Registered nurses at Corewell Health East hospitals in southeast Michigan, represented by Teamsters Local 2024, voted to authorize a strike amid ongoing contract negotiations March 19. Nearly 90% of participating union members voted to authorize a strike after negotiating a labor contract since June 2025, according to Teamsters. The union said nurses are seeking safe nurse-to-patient ratios, fair wages, affordable health insurance and improved workplace safety.
8. Members of Teamsters Local 760 ended a nearly two-month strike at MultiCare Yakima (Wash.) Memorial Hospital March 15. The union, which represents about 170 technical employees at the facility — including workers in surgery, radiology, MRI, pharmacy and laboratory departments — began striking Jan. 17.
9. More than 23,000 Kaiser Permanente nurses planned to hold a 24-hour sympathy strike March 18 in solidarity with Kaiser mental health workers represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers.
10. Members of the Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses United planned to strike March 23 at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, part of Brewer-based Northern Light Health. The union represents about 900 nurses at the medical center.
11. Nurses at Corewell Health Lakeland Hospitals Niles (Mich.) Hospital voted against joining Teamsters Local 406, an affiliate of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, in an election held by the National Labor Relations Board. The vote, tallied Feb. 26, was 82-47 against unionization, with four ballots challenged, according to the NLRB. The proposed bargaining unit included 152 eligible full-time and regular part-time registered nurse employees, including registered nurses, nurse practitioners and certified registered nurse anesthetists.
12. Primary and urgent care providers represented by Doctors Council Service Employees International Union at clinics operated by Minneapolis-based Allina Health authorized an open-ended strike March 6. If scheduled, the strike would be “of whatever duration the bargaining team feels necessary to win the best possible contract,” Matt Hoffman, MD, a family medicine physician at Allina Health Vadnais Heights (Minn.) Clinic, said in a March 6 announcement video posted on the union’s Facebook page.
13. About 2,400 Kaiser Permanente mental health therapists, social workers and psychologists planned to hold a one-day unfair labor practice strike March 18.
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