Our Union
UNAC/UHCP History | Putting Patients First Since 1972
1972
UNAC Begins: The United Nurses Associations of California (UNAC) is born as an all RN union, with the philosophy that RNs should represent RNs.
1972
Civilian Nurses Join: RNs at the Naval Medical Center in Balboa Park vote to join UNAC. In 1980, nurses at Jerry L. Pettis Memorial VA Medical Center in Loma Linda vote the same way, increasing the number of UNAC members caring for current and former military personnel.
1974
UNAC Grows: Congress amends labor laws, giving health care employees the right to form unions; hundreds of RNs in hospitals across Southern California vote to join UNAC.
1977, 1980
UNAC Nurses Fight Back: UNAC Nurses strike Southern California Kaiser Permanente hospitals regarding quality patient care concerns and fair and equitable compensation.
1980
UNAC Looks to the Future: UNAC members vote to expand membership clause to include all health care professions.
1988
UNAC Adds Health Care Professionals: Fountain Valley RNs, clinical lab scientists, physical and occupational therapists, pharmacists, case managers, speech therapists and social workers vote to join UNAC, expanding the types of health care workers in our union.
1988-1989
UNAC Grows Stronger: Building strength by affiliating with a national union, UNAC joins forces with the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees (NUHHCE) in 1988. The next year, UNAC members vote to affiliate with AFSCME and the AFL-CIO. More than 45,000 AFSCME nurses then join forces to form the United Nurses of America.
1992
UNAC Expands into Government Hospital District: Nurses at Bear Valley Community Hospital, part of a government-run hospital district, vote to join UNAC/UHCP, adding government nurses to our largely private sector union.
1996
UNAC Makes History: UNAC organizes more than 2,500 RNs at Sharp Healthcare in the largest single RN bargaining unit in history, defeating Columbia-HCA’s plan to acquire Sharp.
1998-2000
Historic Labor Management Partnership: UNAC members vote to join the Labor Management Partnership (LMP) with Kaiser Permanente. The LMP provides a card-check organizing agreement.
1999
UNAC Gets a New Name: UNAC members vote to change the union’s name to UNAC/UHCP (Union of Health Care Professionals), recognizing that UNAC also represents non-RN health care professionals.
2000-2005
Physician Assistants Join Kaiser Affiliates: Physician Assistants at Fontana, Orange County, Panorama City, Riverside, South Bay, San Diego, Sunset, and West LA Kaiser locations become UNAC/UHCP members and join the existing nurse affiliates.
2001
Support for Safe Staffing Ratios: Working in Partnership, Kaiser Permanente announces its support for industry-leading nurse staffing ratios developed by UNAC/UHCP and other unions – coming out for better ratios long before state regulators.
2002
Optometrists Get a Voice on the Job: Optometrists throughout Kaiser Permanente join UNAC/UHCP and become the first non-RN affiliate. KPASCO wins a voice on the job, a fair pay structure and significant raises.
2005
UNAC/UHCP Builds on Labor Management Partnership: The second national agreement negotiated between Kaiser Permanente and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, of which UNAC/UHCP is a part, builds on the successes of the Labor Management Partnership.
2009
RNs at Chino Trapped by Management's Legal Strategy: Despite voting to join in 2009, Chino nurses discover their hospital administration would rather pay for a doomed-to-fail multi-year legal strategy than give nurses a voice for patient safety.
2011
UNAC/UHCP Welcomes Kaiser Specialty Group: UNAC/UHCP successfully organizes professional Kaiser group including case managers, educators, midwives, and wound ostomy RNs.
2011
Beverly RNs Vote to Join UNAC/UHCP Community Hospital Affiliates: The Beverly contract is signed in 2012, bringing UNAC/UHCP’s community hospital tally to five: Garden Grove in 1975, Lakewood in 2002 and Parkview in 2009, as well as Bear Valley Community Hospital.
2012
UNAC/UHCP Pushes to Strengthen Staffing Ratios: UNAC/UHCP takes SB 1246 all the way to Governor Jerry Brown’s desk, where the bill to put teeth in the staffing laws is vetoed. New regulations are written as a result of UNAC/UHCP’s efforts.
2013
UNAC/UHCP Stands with UHS Corona RNs: Corona RNs head to the bargaining table in 2014.
2013
An all-therapist affiliate adds to the burgeoning number of UNAC/UHCP health care professionals: Kaiser Physical, occupational and recreation therapists join UNAC/UHCP.