The article addresses the trajectory of the union power of health workers in the Chilean post-dictatorship. It is argued that its becoming was linked to the deployment of a confrontational trade union strategy within the framework of the union political culture of the sector. That had an ascending and a declining moment. The turning point of this was the “double” strike of 1996, when there was evidence of wear and tear in the combination of their structural, social, institutional and associative power resources. This left them in a secondary position and weakened in organizational terms, just when they had to face the health reform of the Ricardo Lagos government. All this is analyzed through a discourse analysis, taking as sources the press, government archives and an interview with a union leader of the period.