SAN DIEGO (CNS) — A three-day strike by Sharp Healthcare nurses and other health care workers ended this morning, after picketing at three
locations in San Diego County. The strike involved 5,700 registered nurses and 127 health care professionals, comprising pharmacists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, medical social workers, registered dietitians and speech-language
pathologists.
They went on strike Wednesday at 7 a.m. at the Grossmont, Chula Vista and Kearny Mesa facilities and returned to their jobs at 7 a.m. Saturday. Nurses with Sharp Professional Nurses Network, an affiliate of United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals, say Sharp executives "have repeatedly dismissed proposals to fix staffing, protect patients, and retain experienced caregivers across the Sharp HealthCare system."
"Sharp appreciates the commitment of the many team members, especially our nurse leaders, who worked tirelessly during this period to continue providing safe and high-quality care to our patients," Sharp HealthCare Senior Media and Public Relations Specialist Erica Carlson said Saturday. ``Sharp's latest proposal to the union includes guaranteed wage increases of more than 16% over the four-year contract.
"The proposal includes minimum raises of 5%, 4%, 3.75% and 3.5% across the four years, respectively, for all bargaining unit RNs, who currently earn an average of more than $77 per hour, plus benefits."
Sharp has 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, according to Carlson.
"Sharp is committed to providing safe, high-quality health care to the people of San Diego," Carlson 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."
UNAC/UHCP President Charmaine Morales, RN, said Sharp Healthcare has lost it's way, but union members haven't.
"Sharp never expected this. They never expected thousands of nurses and healthcare professionals to stand up during Thanksgiving week and say 'enough is enough, we will not let you jeopardize patient care.' Sharp may have
forgotten its mission, but we sure haven't,'' Morales said when the strike began. "We are showing a truth that Sharp cannot ignore, when nurses and healthcare professionals rise, the entire county feels it."
"We know who we are. We know why we show up, and know who we serve, our patients and our community first, always," Morales said. "This is the first time our members have ever had to strike at Sharp. Think about that. Decades of service, decades of loyalty, decades of showing up for this community, and not once have Sharp nurses and healthcare professionals had to
take this step, until now."
The next round of negotiations was scheduled for December 10 and 11.
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