Thousands of unionized nurses and health care professionals at Kaiser Permanente facilities in California and Hawaii will return to work Tuesday, ending a roughly four-week strike carried out amid prolonged contract talks, union officials said Monday.
Officials with the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals said in a statement there has been "significant movement at the bargaining table" over the past 48 hours, prompting them to call for an end to the strike as of 7 a.m. Tuesday.
The union also called off all picketing activity on Monday as the union and Kaiser "finalize return-to-work agreements."
The nurses' strike began on Jan. 26. Union officials called it the "largest open-ended strike of registered nurses and health care professionals in United States history."
There were no immediate details available about the how close the two sides were to reaching a contract agreement, or what issues may have been resolved.
The roughly 31,000 members of the UNAC/UHCP had vowed to stay on strike until a fair contract agreement was reached. UNAC/UHCP members include registered nurses, pharmacists, nurse anesthetists, nurse practitioners, midwives, physician assistants, rehab therapists, speech language pathologists, dietitians and other specialty health care professionals.