Nearly 5,000 frontline healthcare workers who are part of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West have voted to authorize a five-day strike.
The effort, to protest what workers describe as unfair labor practices at Sharp Healthcare, passed with an overwhelming 92% of the vote.
The union members work at at Sharp Grossmont Hospital, Sharp HospiceCare, Chula Vista Medical Center, Memorial Hospital, Mesa Vista Hospital and Mary Birch Hospital for Women and Newborns.
“It’s heartbreaking to see what we have to fight with,” said Cheryl Okuboye, a licensed vocational nurse at Sharp Mesa Vista, in a news release. “… To see management break the law and refuse to bargain in good faith with me and my coworkers when all we want is to care for our patients and families is unacceptable — and it hurts.”
The workers accuse Sharp management of refusing to acknowledge what they called a “staffing and patient care crisis in their facilities.”
Tony Napoli, a respiratory therapist at Sharp Grossmont, said he drives 97 miles to work every day, adding three hours to a 12-hour shift and costing up to $600 a month in gas.
“We pay hundreds of dollars monthly for our healthcare, while many veteran employees like myself haven’t seen a raise in years,” Napoli said. “We‘ve been pushed to the brink.”
Thousands of San Diego-area Sharp employees successfully organized union elections following the pandemic. Since opening negotiations in late 2023, they have taken part in more than 30 negotiating sessions without reaching agreement on a first contract.
The strike vote applies to various job classes, including certified nursing assistants, licensed vocational nurses, respiratory care practitioners, pharmacy technicians, patient transporters, radiologic technologists, surgical technologists, lab technicians, nursing unit clerks and more.
