The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions is poised for a three-day strike starting Wednesday, which would be the largest healthcare worker walkout in U.S. history.

More than 75,000 healthcare workers across five states and Washington, D.C., will be holding an unfair labor practices strike after contract negotiations failed to produce a new agreement for the expiration date passed at midnight on Saturday.

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"This three-day strike will be the initial demonstration of our strength to Kaiser that we will not stand for their unfair labor practices," the coalition said in a statement. "If Kaiser continues to commit unfair labor practices, we are prepared to engage in another longer, stronger strike in November."

Kaiser Permanente is a vertically integrated healthcare system in which individual and employer members pay dues to access daily and specialist care. Physician services as well as radiologic imaging, lab testing, and pharmaceuticals are coordinated within the network.

The organization employs nearly 24,000 physicians and over 87,000 non-physician staff, serving nearly 13 million patient members.

Although doctors, hospital managers, and registered nurses cannot legally take part in the strike, other medical staff members who support hospital operations are likely to participate, including nursing assistants, pharmacists, X-ray and laboratory technicians, and genetic counselors.

Workers cite chronic understaffing problems and burnout as chief reasons for why they would picket the company that union members brand as "out of touch."

Understaffing at Kaiser has been exacerbated by the massive exodus of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and the corresponding wave of early retirements. This, coupled with increasing demand for routine care delayed during the pandemic, has increased the burden on the remaining healthcare staff.

The coalition, consisting of eight separate unions across the various regions supplied by Kaiser, is demanding across-the-board pay raises as well as lowering the financial metric for bonus payouts and improved retiree benefits. The unions are also requesting protections from outsourcing and contract workers and required union membership for employees from smaller firms acquired by the larger company.

"Kaiser continues to bargain in bad faith over these issues and, so far, there is no light at the end of the tunnel," the coalition said in a press statement published Saturday.

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Kaiser Permanente management issued a statement on Sunday saying it will continue negotiations "in good faith" as the week progresses in an effort to avoid the "unnecessary strike."

“We have contingency plans in place to ensure members continue to receive safe, high-quality care for the duration of the strike," the company said.