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OAKLAND, Calif. — <\/span>An estimated 31,000 registered nurses and other front-line Kaiser Permanente health care workers will return to work on Tuesday after a four-week strike<\/a> in California and Hawaii to demand better wages and staffing.<\/p>\n The United Nurses Associations of California\/Union of Health Care Professionals said in a statement Monday that \u201csignificant movement at the bargaining table\u201d prompted an end to the walkout. There were no details about what progress was made during negotiations or what a potential deal might look like. <\/p>\n \u201cAccording to the union, returning members to their patients and their livelihoods is the clearest path to securing a final agreement and building on the progress achieved during the strike,\u201d the statement said. <\/p>\n Kaiser Permanente officials didn’t immediately comment on the union’s announcement. <\/p>\n The picketing that began Jan. 27 marked the second major strike<\/a> in recent months by employees represented by the union. A five-day strike in October ended with negotiations resuming, but talks broke down in December.<\/p>\n Those on picket lines, including pharmacists, midwives and rehab therapists, said salaries have not kept pace with inflation and there is not enough staffing to keep up with patient demand. <\/p>\n They asked for a 25% wage increase over four years to make up for wages they say are at least 7% behind their peers.<\/p>\n Kaiser Permanente had countered with a 21.5% increase over four years. The company maintained that its union employees earn, on average, 16% more than their peers, and that it would have to charge customers more to meet strikers’ pay demands. <\/p>\n Clinics and hospitals remained open during the strike, with some in-person appointments shifted to virtual, and some elective surgeries and procedures rescheduled. <\/p>\n Kaiser Permanente operates one of the nation\u2019s largest not-for-profit health systems, serving 12.6 million members at 600 medical offices and 40 hospitals in largely western U.S. states. It is based in Oakland, California.<\/p>\n In New York City, nurses in the privately run NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital system approved a new contract<\/a> Saturday, voting to end a major strike<\/a> there after more than a month.<\/p>\n Two other big private hospital systems in New York, Montefiore and Mount Sinai, ended their nurses\u2019 walkout earlier this month by inking contract agreements<\/a> with the same union.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n