Contact: Jeff Rogers, Communications Specialist
Jeff.Rogers@unacuhcp.org | 909-263-7230
Sharp HealthCare RNs Vote to Strike
Sharp HealthCare Refuses to Seriously Address Quality of Care and Nurse Retention in System
SAN DIEGO—Sharp HealthCare registered nurses voted to authorize an unfair labor practice strike to protest Sharp’s unlawful implementation of its so-called last, best and final offer and other unfair labor practices. Ninety-eight percent of 2,203 nurses who cast ballots voted to authorize the unfair labor practice strike.
“We’ve spent months explaining to management why experienced nurses are a necessary part of patient care at Sharp. Unfortunately, management refuses to acknowledge how turnover is impacting the working conditions of the nurses who remain. While they claim turnover rates are lower than average, they miss the underlying point that Sharp is bleeding nurses and why it matters,” said Christina Magnusen, RN, from Sharp Grossmont.
Sharp is on track to lose nearly 700 nurses this year, and has been trying to fill the gaps with hundreds of thousands of hours of overtime and doubletime for current nurses and by adding traveling nurses to the schedule. According to union calculations, Sharp is short over 350 nurses, but could quickly reverse the nursing shortage by paying competitive wages. Despite a profit of over $388 million, Sharp is not willing to increase its wage proposal to the level of nurse salaries in other facilities in San Diego.
“We are willing to do whatever it takes to protect our patients, up to and including a strike,” said Nieysha White, RN, from Sharp Mary Birch.
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The Sharp Professional Nurses Network (SPNN) is an affiliate of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) which represents over 26,000 registered nurses and other health care professionals, including optometrists; pharmacists; physical, occupational and speech therapists; case managers; nurse midwives; social workers; clinical lab scientists; physician assistants and nurse practitioners. UNAC/UHCP is affiliated with the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO.