Members of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals have concluded their three-day strike at San Diego-based Sharp HealthCare.
Four things to know:
1. The strike ended Nov. 29. It involved a unit of 5,700 registered nurses at Sharp HealthCare and a second unit of 127 healthcare professionals — including pharmacists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, medical social workers, registered dietitians and speech-language pathologists — who work at Sharp Chula Vista (Calif.) Medical Center.
2. The union described the strike as “one of the largest strikes San Diego has seen in decades,” according to a Nov. 29 UNAC/UHCP news release shared with Becker’s.
3. The strike took place amid contract negotiations. Registered nurses began negotiating a new labor contract with Sharp HealthCare in July, according to UNAC/UHCP. The 127 healthcare professionals at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center began bargaining for their first contract in February.
The union contends that during bargaining, Sharp HealthCare refused to meaningfully address staffing retention, fair market wages and reasonable sick policies. “We’ve lived through multiple staffing crises at Sharp over the years,” Andrea Muir, RN, said in the union release. “In previous contracts, we won substantial improvements in our pay structure to correct the problems and keep Sharp RN pay competitive with other San Diego RN employers. If we accept what Sharp has on the table now, our nurse staffing retention crisis will come roaring back and erase all the gains we’ve made in the past. For the sake of our patients and our families, we can’t accept that.”
4. In a Nov. 29 statement shared with Becker’s, Sharp HealthCare said its latest proposal to the union includes “guaranteed wage increases of more than 16% over the four-year contract.” The health system said it also offered 70 hours of paid sick leave “frontloaded” each January, “meaning nurses would have enough time to cover nearly two full weeks of time off for illness at the beginning of each year, with unused hours carrying over into subsequent years.”
“As always, Sharp is committed to providing safe, high-quality health care to the people of San Diego,” the health system’s statement said. “We believe our nurses deserve a strong and fair contract, and our patients and community members deserve to have us move forward together without further disruption. In the weeks ahead, we look forward to returning to the negotiations table to reengage in constructive discussions toward a fair and responsible agreement.”
