SHARP NURSES TO HOLD CANDLELIGHT VIGIL AND RALLY IN SUPPORT OF SAFE PATIENT CARE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR: Monday, December 22 at 5:00 p.m. PT

CONTACT: press@unacuhcp.org, Karin Mak, 909-929-5878

Photos/videos of the nurses’ recent strike available HERE, courtesy of UNAC/UHCP

SHARP NURSES TO HOLD CANDLELIGHT VIGIL AND RALLY IN SUPPORT OF SAFE PATIENT CARE 

Frontline caregivers say patient care is at risk this holiday season, as Sharp continues to deny workers a fair contract

SAN DIEGO, CA – At the peak of the holiday busy season, more than 5,800 registered nurses and health care professionals at Sharp HealthCare are escalating their call for safe staffing and fair working conditions with a candlelight vigil and rally.

Holding candles and signs, workers will call for management to protect patient care by investing in the frontline professionals who care for them. The vigil follows a historic strike that sent shockwaves through San Diego over Thanksgiving week, as registered nurses say Sharp has refused to listen to caregivers at the bargaining table.

Who: 5,700 Sharp registered nurses and 127 other health care professionals with UNAC/UHCP

What: Registered nurses hold candlelight vigil and rally demanding Sharp put patient care first, as they bargain for a fair union contract

When: Monday, December 22, 2025 from 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Where: Sharp HealthCare Headquarters, 8695 Spectrum Center Blvd, San Diego, CA 92123

VISUALS: Registered nurses, other health care professionals, and community supporters holding candles and signs

INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE with registered nurses in English and Spanish. Nurses available for live interviews for evening news broadcasts.

BACKGROUND:

Over Thanksgiving week, Sharp registered nurses carried out one of the largest health care strikes San Diego has seen in decades, walking out to defend patient care and reject Sharp’s efforts to undermine staffing, wages, and basic protections. The 5,800 health care professionals who went on strike are part of Sharp Professional Nurses Network (SPNN), an affiliate of United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP).

Since July, registered nurses have been bargaining with Sharp executives to settle a fair contract that addresses risks to patient care – including nurses’ persistently low wages and a sick leave policy that forces nurses to choose between protecting their patients and protecting their own jobs and families. While the RNs’ previous contract expired on September 30, nurses agreed to an emergency two-week extension that began Wednesday, October 22, and ran through November 5.

Another unit of 127 health care professionals, who work at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center and have been bargaining for their first contract since February 2025, joined the nurses in their strike.

Registered nurses and health care professionals are holding Sharp accountable for its failure to partner on:

• Safe Staffing: Sharp’s proposals must go further to give caregivers a voice as patient advocates and to guarantee workload protections and safe working conditions.
• Fair Sick Policy: Sharp professionals now suffer under a policy where full-time nurses must work for ten weeks to accrue enough sick time to cover a single shift, and those who stay home sick without sufficient time are subject to disciplinary action.
• Reasonable Wages: Sharp nurses are paid below market rate and struggle to support themselves and their families in one of the most expensive cities in the country. Also, Sharp’s “banded wage” proposal would actually lower current base wage rates at certain experience levels, for multiple years, creating a two-tier wage system at Sharp and depressing overall wages for RNs in San Diego.

As negotiations continue, nurses are committed to reaching a fair settlement that protects patients and keeps experienced nurses at the bedside.