Health-Care Strikes Yield Mixed Returns for Covid-Weary Workers

Health-care workers in several states walked off the job during the darkest moments of the coronavirus pandemic to pressure employers for better pay and working conditions—a strategy that had decidedly mixed results.

While some unions were able to win significant raises and safety improvements at the mere threat of a strike, others remain deadlocked with management months after picketing. Nationally, the number of new collective bargaining agreements in health care has dropped by more than a third since the start of the pandemic, reaching 140 since March 2020, as strikes rose by 22%, to 28 total in that span, according ...