In 2024, there were 359 work stoppages -- including 356 strikes and three lockouts -- across the U.S., with 36 occurring in the healthcare and social assistance industry, according to a report published Feb. 19 by the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University and the University of Illinois School of Labor and Employment Relations. Such actions have continued into 2025.
Five strikes reported by Becker's Hospital Review this year:
Note: This article was created Feb. 20 and will continue to be updated.
1. Members of Service Employees International Union Healthcare Pennsylvania began a five-day strike Feb. 17 at Geisinger's Luzerne County facilities in Pennsylvania. The union represents 800 nurses from Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., as well as Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre, a campus of GWVMC, and Geisinger Healthplex CenterPoint in Pittston, Pa.
2. Nearly 5,000 employees across 11 bargaining units -- including nurses at eight Providence hospitals in Oregon, as well as some physicians at Portland-based Providence St. Vincent Medical Center and the Providence Women's Clinic -- went on strike Jan. 10. While some bargaining units have approved new labor deals, nurses from the hospitals remained on strike as of Feb. 20.
3. Members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee, an affiliate of National Nurses United, began their second strike Feb. 5 at University Medical Center in New Orleans. The union represents about 600 nurses at UMC, who also went on strike in October 2024.
4. Members of the California Nurses Association in San Joaquin County's health system went on strike Jan. 17. The union represents more than 1,000 registered nurses countywide, including public health and county jail nurses, and RNs at San Joaquin General Hospital in French Camp, Calif., according to a Jan. 15 CNA news release.
5. Members of the SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa began an open-ended strike Dec. 9 in Deer River, Minn. The 49-day strike concluded in January after the union reached an agreement on behalf of 70 staff members at Essentia Health-Deer River and the nearby Essentia Health-Homestead nursing home.