Sharp Coronado (Calif.) Hospital workers voted April 30 to join Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West.
Of 404 eligible voters, 318 ballots were tabulated, according to the National Labor Relations Board. The vote was 209-109 in favor of unionization. One ballot was challenged.
The workers at Sharp Coronado will join more than 5,000 workers across San Diego-based Sharp HealthCare who previously voted to join SEIU-UHW, according to a union news release shared with Becker’s.
“We’re so proud to join the thousands and thousands of healthcare workers throughout this region who are unionizing,” Linda Dabu said in the release. “We work in the most expensive city in the nation, and many healthcare workers can’t afford to live in this community because our wages just haven’t kept up. Now that we’re union, we’ll be able to win safer staffing, better patient care and good jobs here.”
While 404 voters were eligible, the entire bargaining unit, which includes all job classifications covered by the union, comprises more than 450 workers.
The vote at Sharp Coronado covers various job classes, including licenced vocational nurses, certified nursing assistants, respiratory care practitioners, surgical techs, sterile processing techs, healthcare partners, anesthesia techs, certified phlebotomy techs, endoscopy techs, pharmacy techs, patient access services reps, distribution techs, imaging assistants, lab assistants, materials techs, rehabilitation aides, among other workers.
In response to the vote, Sharp HealthCare shared the following statement with Becker’s:
“Sharp HealthCare respects each employee’s right to make their own individual decision about third-party representation, and therefore, we respect the ultimate outcome of this election. With the conclusion of the vote, we encourage all Sharp team members to continue to work together in the spirit of The Sharp Experience to provide the extraordinary care our patients and the communities we serve expect and deserve.”
