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With more than 31,000 registered nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists and other health professionals involved, Monday's strike has the potential to significantly disrupt Kaiser patients’ experiences, including the likely cancellation or rescheduling of some appointments and elective surgeries.
The Jan. 26 strike date, set by the United Nurses Association of California/Union of Health Care Professionals, follows a tumultuous month in which Kaiser officials at one point cut off negotiations entirely.A report from the union makes clear their position: Kaiser, sitting on $67 billion in reserves, can well afford to address glaring staffing shortages and close pay gaps that the union says were years in the making. This strike is open-ended, meaning its impacts could be felt for weeks or months.Hospital officials have acknowledged staffing issues during these negotiations, union reps say. But in their public communications, the organization has repeatedly hammered the union as being interested only in raises that Kaiser says are “out of step” with economic realities.from a union stuck in going-nowhere labor negotiations with health giant Kaiser Permanente makes clear the union’s position: Kaiser, sitting on $67 billion in reserves, can well afford to address glaring staffing shortages and close pay gaps that the union says were years in the making. Will the report move the needle in negotiations? Not likely. And that almost certainly means that a massive employee walkout against Kaiser, the second such job strike in four months, will go off as planned on Jan. 26. With more than 31,000 registered nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists and other health professionals involved, the strike has the potential to significantly disrupt Kaiser patients’ experiences, including the likely cancellation or rescheduling of some appointments and elective surgeries. A five-day strike last October prompted Kaiser to bring in 6,000 contract nurses and clinicians. This strike is open-ended, meaning its impacts could be felt for weeks or months. Nurses say they hate that idea for their patients — but it may be the only way to focus Kaiser’s attention on the chronic staffing issues that they say negatively affect those patients on a regular basis. “I see the end result of the poor staffing every single day,” said Zach Pritchett, an emergency room nurse at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Los Angeles. “What I’m seeing in the ER are Kaiser members who can’t get appointments for months at a time with their own primary care physicians — so they wind up here.” Kaiser officials, meanwhile, have mostly waved off those concerns, saying in a prepared statement that union leaders “continue to talk about improving care, when this strike, and their actions over the past several months, are really all about higher wages.” It adds up to a toxic stalemate, nearly 10 months after the union delivered its first proposal for a new contract and almost four months after its previous contract expired. Patient care for some of California’s 9.5 million Kaiser members will almost certainly suffer as a result. The Jan. 26 strike date, set by the United Nurses Association of California/Union of Health Care Professionals, follows a tumultuous month in which Kaiser officials at one point cut off negotiations entirely, claiming a UNAC/UHCP representative had threatened to release damaging information about the company unless a settlement was reached. “I certainly didn’t threaten Kaiser, and I made it clear in that meeting that I was not threatening them,” said union representative Joe Guzynski, referring to a December conference at which an independent mediator was also present. Instead, Guzynski said, he informed Kaiser that the union would be releasing much of the information publicly and offered to let company officials read it. They declined, he said. The union has now made the information public, in an 84-page document that notes Kaiser’s astounding profitability despite the organization’s claim to nonprofit status in several areas of its operation. In 2024, the report notes, Kaiser generated $12.9 billion in what the report calls profits, which Kaiser generally refers to as net revenue or net income. The profit or surplus for the first three quarters of 2025 was $7.9 billion, with fourth-quarter totals not yet known.as “one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit health plans.” That designation applies strictly to its health insurance arm and the foundation that owns Kaiser’s hospitals. The company’s Permanente Medical Groups, the vast physician organizations that actually provide the care to patients, are for-profit ventures. Some union members work in Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and others in the individual clinics that comprise the for-profit medical groups, but their contract is negotiated with Kaiser as a whole. Kaiser’s reserves, estimated at $67 billion , are unrestricted. That means they can be used for any purpose. Nurses and other Kaiser employees say they’ve been pleading with Kaiser for years to use some of that money to beef up staffing, to little avail. In its report, UNAC/UHCP says its members filed nearly 14,000 complaints related to unsafe staffing levels in Southern California Kaiser facilities alone from November 2023 to November 2025. That includes instances in which the staffing is out of compliance with the union’s contractual agreed-upon levels. Kim Mullen, a union negotiator and a nurse who works primarily with stroke victims at Kaiser’s South Bay Medical Center near Long Beach, described what such staffing shortages look like. In her telemetry unit, she said, charge nurses often have to leave their posts in order to provide direct care for patients, meaning they are not doing their main job: running the overall shift, coordinating care and managing assignments. On a short-staffing day, Mullen said, she doesn’t have enough nurses and other professionals to cover the need, plain and simple. “There’s no extra set of hands,” she said. “You give it your all, put your whole heart and soul in it, and then at the end of the day you’re exhausted, beat up, and you know that you didn’t give the patients all the care that they needed. And that’s what sucks.”acknowledged staffing issues during these negotiations, union reps say. But in their public communications, the organization has repeatedly hammered the union as being interested only in raises that Kaiser says are “out of step” with economic realities. “Our focus remains on reaching agreements that recognize the vital contributions of our employees while ensuring excellent, affordable care,” the company said in an emailed statement that it attributed to Senior Vice President Camille Applin-Jones. Kaiser did not respond to a series of specific questions about the negotiations from Capital & Main. With regard to the union’s report, Kaiser’s statement said it “appears to be a collection of misrepresentations of facts across a broad range of issues, already published news stories, and information we have publicly reported.” The wage negotiation has been stuck for months, with Kaiser offering a 21.5% raise over four years and the union proposing 25%. Neither side has budged. Union officials say their members agreed to much smaller increases during their last contract, negotiated during and just after the COVID-19 pandemic, and are trying to recoup some of the buying power they lost. In October of 2025, UNAC/UHCP staged a five-day strike, and that did appear to prompt Kaiser to renew bargaining. For the most part, though, the medical behemoth has only erratically agreed to sit down. Union officials say that Kaiser showed up for negotiating sessions only seven days in November and five in December. Such stalling is a longstanding corporate negotiating tactic, meant to frustrate and wear down union members whose contracts have expired and who want new deals in order to get on with their lives. In this case, the union’s Guzynski says, Kaiser may have picked the wrong opponent. “I don’t think they know our members,” Guzynski said. “Our members understand and really feel these issues of staffing, when the employer has billions of dollars in reserves and says they can’t do anything to help them provide the patient care they want to provide.”Federal officials announced on Friday they arrested the head of a homelessness charity based in Hyde Park on allegations of wire fraud. According to officials, 42-year-old Alexander Soofer fraudulently obtained $23 million in public dollars meant to house and feed 600 homeless people. Soofer allegedly used at least $10 million of the money to buy homes, designer items and fund his kids’ private school educations. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted.Soofer is the executive director of Abundant Blessings, which was founded in 2018 to “end homelessness,” according to a profile of the charityFive million dollars came directly from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, and the remaining $17 million came from a downtown L.A. nonprofit, which according to the complaint, “received its funding from LAHSA.” Officials allege that among other things, Soofer used public funds to buy a $7 million home in Westwood, nearly half-a-million-dollar vacation home in Greece, $125,000 Range Rover and thousands in items from Hermes and Chanel.LAHSA and the L.A. City Controller’s Office investigated Soofer. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said Friday that Soofer lied to the auditors from both organizations and provided them fake documents. LAHSA terminated its contracts with Abundant Blessings following its investigation and referred the case to the DA’s office, the federal complaint says. 🔎 Last Friday, our Fraud, Waste & Abuse Unit visited an Inside Safe location after getting a complaint. We observed that the service provider was providing Inside Safe residents with instant ramen for nearly every meal. Parallel to the federal case, Hochman announced his office has charged Soofer with 11 felony counts of conflict of interest, two felony counts of offering false evidence and five felony counts of forgery related to the money he received from LAHSA. If convicted on all state charges, Soofer faces more than 17 years in state prison and county jail.LAist has reached out to LAHSA for comment. When reached by phone Friday morning, someone named Naomi with the downtown L.A. nonprofit that provided funding to Abundant Blessings said “I don’t have information” about the case and abruptly hung up the phone. The City Controller’s office said there is a “significant lack of contractor oversight by City Departments,” which creates the opportunity for public funds to be misused. L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said in response to Friday's announcement that her administration has"zero tolerance for fraud" and called the allegations against Soofer"despicable."a Los Angeles County programThe county plans to close the program on Friday at 4:59 p.m. The program has been open since Dec. 17.The program has $23 million available to help landlords and homeowners cover up to six months of missed rent or mortgage payments. Tenants are not able to apply directly to the program. County officials have instead encouraged renters toThe paperwork requirements are extensive, including proof of identification, proof of income, proof of property ownership, copies of leases and estimates for property repairs. Applicants seeking help due to federal immigration actions will be asked to provide proof of deportation or detainment.If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $200 million plan to revive the state’s stalling electric-car market faces several fundamental problems: It isn’t enough money, it may not reach consumers quickly enough and the state hasn’t decided whether to subsidize – or exclude – wealthier buyers.The Newsom administration’s budget proposal — rolled out after President Donald Trump dismantled federal electric vehicle incentives and blocked California’s clean-vehicle mandate — would cover rebates for only about 20% of last year’s EV sales.A CalMatters analysis finds that the incentive would cover only one out of every five EV sales, assuming similar sales to last year, and the same average rebate level as the state’s last mass-market rebate program.Loren McDonald, a Danville-based EV analyst, says that potential buyers now expect seamless charging and balk at waiting 30 to 40 minutes. They also are not keen to install home chargers or pay more upfront. Many, he says, stick with traditional gasoline-powered vehicles.California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $200 million plan to revive the state’s stalling electric-car market faces several fundamental problems: It isn’t enough money, it may not reach consumers quickly enough and the state hasn’t decided whether to subsidize – or exclude – wealthier buyers.California’s clean-vehicle mandate — would cover rebates for only about 20% of last year’s EV sales. That CalMatters estimate assumes the state follows the model of the Clean Vehicle Rebate Program, which offered rebates of up to $7,500 toward some electric and hybrid cars before the California Air Resources Board ended it in 2023. So far the administration has released few details about the proposal, leaving experts and lawmakers circling a basic question: Who should get the money? “It is better than nothing, which is what a lot of things are getting right now,” said Mars Wu, a senior program manager with the Greenlining Institute, which advocates for investments in communities of color. “How far that $200 million goes really depends on how the program is going to be structured.”California’s electric car market is one the governor celebrates on the world stage. While at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland earlier this week, Newsom highlighted that California has surpassed 2.5 million clean car sales, saying the achievement came after the state “invested in this future when others said it was impossible.” He framed the number against aCalifornia officials remain confident the state’s policies will succeed in pushing the transition to electric cars. Even as sales have slipped, EVs will drive future electricity demand, according to aBut the limits of the governor’s $200 million EV proposal become clear in the numbers. A CalMatters analysis found the incentive would cover only one out of every five EV sales, assuming similar sales to last year, and the same average rebate level as the state’s last mass-market rebate program. Advocates are also raising concerns about how quickly the money can get to consumers. Christopher Chavez, deputy policy director at the Coalition for Clean Air, a California-focused advocacy group, warned that the proposed rebates may not reach consumers until 2027, given how long it takes to approve the budget and to set up a new program. If the funding only lasts a year, the program would leave out buyers who need time to plan or save, he added. “It's not going to be enough — just to be blunt about it,” Chavez said. “Two-hundred million for a mass-market program will go very quickly.” The proposal comes as the latest sales numbers show an electric car market slump. Nationally, the loss of the uncapped, popular federal tax credit has accelerated manufacturer In California, the slowdown has pushed the state further off course from its climate goals: even before Congress and President Trump, California was struggling to hit a requirement that 35% of new cars sold in 2026 be zero-emission. Last year electric and other zero emission cars made up about 23% of new car sales in 2025, down from roughly 25% the year prior, Sales slowed down dramatically at the end of the year, when EVs and other clean cars accounted for just under 19% of new car sales in the fourth quarter of 2025 — the lowest quarterly share since mid-2022.. The Clean Vehicle Rebate Program would be “the foundation we’d be building from,” wrote Lindsey Buckley, an air board spokesperson, in an email, adding that the goal would be to deploy the $200 million “as soon as possible to support the market.” Buckley said it is “speculative” to predict the impact of a new EV incentive or how quickly the money would reach consumers. An environmental activist places signage calling for increased electric vehicle use outside the California Environmental Protection Agency building in Sacramento on June 9, 2022. Environmental activists urged the California Air Resources Board to push for a transition toward 100% electric vehicle consumer use. Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters With limited funding, advocates say the question of who qualifies for the rebates becomes critical. “What we really don't want to see is that money going towards higher-income folks for whom it would just be kind of like a bonus coupon,” said Wu, of the Greenlining Institute.How the Newsom administration and lawmakers design the state’s next EV incentive will determine how quickly the air board can deliver rebates — and whether the program avoids. California ended its last, broad EV rebate program in 2023 over concerns it benefited higher-income buyers. Targeting lower-income drivers delivers the greatest benefits because they tend to drive the most, and switching to EVs saves them money on fuel and maintenance, said Ethan Elkind, a climate law expert at UC Berkeley. But income-based “means testing” can slow programs down, requiring income verification and layers of bureaucracy that eat up funding and discourage participation. That’s a critique of one California program aimed at low-income buyers, Clean Cars 4 All, which offers grants to help drivers trade in older, more polluting vehicles for cleaner alternatives. As the state moved from budget surplus to deficit, the Newsom administration and lawmakers never adequately funded it, advocates say.in the 2024–25 budget year, and in the current budget cycle, the state provided only about $45 million through a combination of funds and one-time budget actions,“It's become — especially as the budget has become more difficult — more of a secondary priority, which is unfortunate,” he said.California’s EV problem has no shortage of potential solutions — only disagreement over which one to choose.from Atlas Public Policy found that incentives are most cost-effective when they bring a household’s first electric vehicle into the garage — because once a family owns one EV, it is far more likely to buy another. Elkind, of UC Berkeley, said a simpler approach — a point-of-sale rebate tied to lower-priced vehicles — would be easier for the air board to administer while avoiding subsidies for high-income buyers.Some lawmakers told CalMatters the air board should tightly target the rebates to communities most affected by pollution and transportation costs., a Democrat from El Segundo, said incentives should focus on communities that suffer the most from air pollution, “so as to increase the bang for air quality buck.”, a Democrat from Menlo Park, said new incentives should go to the people “who are most burdened by transportation costs and drive the most."California needs to design its next rebate program well because its most eager EV buyers are gone and the state now faces a harder, more price-sensitive market, experts said. “California is one of the first states to sort of get into that mainstream market: and it's a harder market to convert,” said Loren McDonald, a Danville-based EV analyst. Potential buyers now expect seamless charging and balk at waiting 30 to 40 minutes. They also are not keen to install home chargers or pay more upfront. Many, he says, stick with traditional gasoline-powered vehicles. “We burned through the innovators and the early adopters — those people who want to save the planet, those people who make good money,” McDonald said.The FBI has arrested a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder from their 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list.Wedding is accused of running a transnational drug trafficking operation that shipped drugs from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California, and ultimately throughout the United States and Canada. He also allegedly ordered the killing of a witness who was set to testify against him.Why it matters: Wedding is accused of running a drug trafficking operation that shipped narcotics from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California, and ultimately throughout the United States and Canada. He is also accused of ordered the killing of a witness who was set to testify against him.FBI Director Kash Patel calls him"the largest narco trafficker in modern times." At a news conference announcing Wedding's arrest, Patel said"He's a modern-day El Chapo. He is a modern-day Pablo Escobar, and he thought he could evade justice." LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell says their investigation into Wedding with the feds led to the seizure of more than 5,000 pounds of cocaine and more than $55 million in assets.Patel says Wedding has been wanted on charges for cocaine trafficking and murder since 2024. He competed for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
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