2025 Nurse Strikes: Complete List of Active and Planned Strikes
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Recent years have shown a significant rise in nursing strikes, with more and more nurses utilizing their unionizations to fight for better pay and safer working conditions for both patients and staff.
Here's where the nursing strikes are currently standing in 2025.
Current, pending, and past strikes
Current Strikes:
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University of California healthcare: Approximately 20,000 University of California healthcare, research, and technical employees began a three-day strike on February 26, 2025, across multiple UC campuses and medical centers. The strike, organized by UPTE-CWA Local 9119, aims to address issues such as unfair labor practices, inadequate staffing, and demands for higher wages, while UC denies claims of a staffing crisis and states it has offered improved compensation.
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Providence Health & Services: After 46 days on the picket line and more than a year of negotiations, nearly 5,000 frontline nurses represented by the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) have secured a historic win. All eight registered nurse bargaining units at Providence hospitals overwhelmingly ratified new contracts, ending the strike and establishing new standards for wages, staffing, and patient safety in one of Oregon's largest healthcare systems.
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Geisinger Health System’s Luzerne County: Took place from February 17 to February 21, 2025, involved approximately 800 nurses from three Luzerne County facilities in Pennsylvania. The five-day strike was organized by SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania to address concerns over understaffing, low pay, affordable healthcare, and workplace safety. Affected facilities included Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre, and Geisinger Healthplex CenterPoint. Negotiations between the union and Geisinger management resumed on February 19, during the strike. Although nurses returned to work on February 22, contract negotiations were ongoing, as a new agreement had not yet been reached.
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University Medical Center (UMC): Experienced its second strike by nurses on February 5-6, 2025. The two-day strike in New Orleans, organized by the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU), involved more than 600 nurses advocating for improved staffing levels and workplace safety measures. UMC management implemented a three-day lockout of striking nurses, extending through Super Bowl weekend but returned to work after.
Recently Passed Strikes:
- Providence Health & Services: After 46 days on the picket line and more than a year of negotiations, nearly 5,000 frontline nurses represented by the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) have secured a historic win. All eight registered nurse bargaining units at Providence hospitals overwhelmingly ratified new contracts, ending the strike and establishing new standards for wages, staffing, and patient safety in one of Oregon's largest healthcare systems.
- Geisinger Health System’s Luzerne County: Took place from February 17 to February 21, 2025, involved approximately 800 nurses from three Luzerne County facilities in Pennsylvania. The five-day strike was organized by SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania to address concerns over understaffing, low pay, affordable healthcare, and workplace safety. Affected facilities included Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre, and Geisinger Healthplex CenterPoint. Negotiations between the union and Geisinger management resumed on February 19, during the strike. Although nurses returned to work on February 22, contract negotiations were ongoing, as a new agreement had not yet been reached.
- University Medical Center (UMC): Experienced its second strike by nurses on February 5-6, 2025. The two-day strike in New Orleans, organized by the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU), involved more than 600 nurses advocating for improved staffing levels and workplace safety measures. UMC management implemented a three-day lockout of striking nurses, extending through Super Bowl weekend but returned to work after.
- Newton-Wellesley Hospital (MA) - December 2024: A tentative contract agreement was reached following an informational picket and strike authorization vote. Key provisions include a 15.5% wage increase with retroactive pay to April 2024, enhanced workplace violence policies with post-crisis support, and expanded bargaining rights for off-site ambulatory nurses and nurse practitioners. The agreement, effective through March 31, 2027, aims to improve recruitment, retention, and patient care quality.
- St. Joseph Medical Center (Tacoma, WA) - December 2024: A new contract was overwhelmingly approved that includes the highest wages for nurses in Pierce County, equal pay for international nurses based on experience, and robust workplace safety measures like weapon detectors and locked units. Staffing improvements include break nurses, a weekend-only shift, and fair call shift allocation. The agreement was reached after extensive negotiations and reflects significant progress in equity, safety, and working conditions.
- Lower Bucks Hospital (Bristol, PA) - December 2024: A new three-year labor contract with 83% support after 15 months of negotiations was approved. Key provisions include new nursing positions to improve staffing, protections against layoffs, and increased wages averaging 14% over three years, with additional pay based on experience. The agreement also enhances on-call pay, differentials, and holiday hours, aiming to address retention and recognize the contributions of frontline caregivers while prioritizing patient care.
- University of Illinois Health - November 2024: The union, says they reached an agreement with the administration. The terms of the 4-year contract have not been disclosed.
- Maui Health, Kaiser - November 2024: Negotiations between UNHCEH and Maui Health, representing over 900 healthcare workers, stalled over proposed staffing ratios, leading the union to initiate a three-day strike on November 4, 2024. The strike affected Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital, and Lanai Community Hospital. UNHCEH seeks staffing ratios similar to those agreed upon by Kaiser Permanente in California, which Maui Health management has rejected.
- University Medical Center (UMC) in New Orleans held a one-day strike on October 25, 2024. This decision came after months of unsuccessful contract negotiations between the nurses' union and hospital management, with patient safety concerns at the forefront of the dispute. They were locked out of the hospital on October 26, 2024, and have not reached an agreement.
- Hawaii Nurses’ Association (HNA): Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children, Honolulu, Hawaii - October 2024: After over a year of negotiations, a new three-year contract has been finalized.
- Providence Joint Strike: Providence Medford, Providence Hood River, Providence Newberg, Providence Willamette Falls, Providence St. Vincent, and Providence Milwaukie, Oregon. Ended
- Loretto Hospital (Chicago, IL)
- McLaren Lapeer Regional Hospital (Lapeer, MI)
- Providence Portland Medical Center (Portland, OR)
- Marin Health Medical Center (Greenbrae, CA)
- Mount Sinai Health, Montefiore Health System, and Wyckoff Hospital (New York, NY)
- National Nurses United (NNU) National Day of Action (nationwide)
- Ascension Seton Medical Center (Austin, TX)
- Kaiser Permanente (California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Virginia and the Washington D.C.)
- Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (New Brunswick, NJ)
- Cedars-Sinai Marina del Rey (Marina del Rey, California)
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute-Merrimack Valley (Boston, Massachusetts)
- Ascension Saint Joseph-Joliet (Joliet, Illinois)
- St. Catherine of Siena Hospital (Smithtown, New York)
- Sutter Center for Psychiatry (Sacramento, CA)
- MyMichigan Medical Center Sault (Sault Ste. Marie, MI)
- Sacred Heart Home Care Services (Springfield, OH)
- St. Joseph Hospital (St. Juliet, MI)
- University of Chicago Medicine (Chicago, IL)
Why are nurses striking?
Nurses go on strike for many systemic reasons including, but not limited to, inadequate pay, unsafe working conditions, and unsafe staffing ratios. Often, with the assistance of their union, nurses work to negotiate contracts with their employers. Oftentimes, nurses are able to negotiate a better contract without the need to go on strike.
However, sometimes negotiations reach a standstill, with neither party reaching an agreement. When this happens, nurses protest by refusing to go to work until agreeable terms are met.
In particular, safer nurse-to-patient staffing ratios have been at the forefront of concerns that have driven recent nursing strike authorizations across the country.
According to the 2023 State of Nursing Report conducted by Nurse.org, 91% of nurses believe the nursing shortage is getting worse and that burnout, poor working conditions, and inadequate pay are the primary causes. In addition, 79% of nurses said their units are inadequately staffed and 71% said that improving staffing ratios would have the greatest impact on the nursing shortage.
Nurses are becoming more vocal about these feelings and experiences and are choosing to take action through striking.
🤔 Nurses, do you have information on current, planned, or recent strikes? Share your thoughts in the discussion forum below, or email info@nurse.org.
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