Sharp nurses ratify four-year contract as Kaiser prepares to strike

Sharp HealthCare announced Friday that its registered nurses have ratified a new contract that will increase overall pay by 18% over four years, a deal that arrived after union members staged a three-day strike in late November.

The Sharp Professional Nurses Network, affiliated with United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals, represents an estimated 5,700 members. The union confirmed the contract ratification Friday afternoon, saying in its own statement that its members also will receive 72 hours of “frontloaded” sick leave and “a restoration of retiree medical benefits,” as part of the deal.

Sharp’s statement indicates that base pay will increase 5% across the board in the contract’s first year, with 4% bumps for each of the agreement’s final three years. While those percentages add up to a total of 17 percentage points, a union spokesperson confirmed Friday afternoon that the overall increase totals 18% when annual compounding is accounted for.

The union also represents Kaiser nurses who are planning to stage their own strike of unlimited duration starting Monday. The two sides of this negotiation, which have been in negotiations since September 2025, have included union claims that Kaiser has put “profits over patients” in its negotiations. The report claims that Kaiser has $66 billion in “unrestricted reserves,” suggest...