Barring a last-minute breakthrough, 5,700 registered nurses at Sharp HealthCare will strike on Wednesday, remaining on picket lines through Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, not returning to their jobs until 7 a.m. Saturday.
Workers plan to demonstrate in front of Sharp’s three main medical campuses in San Diego, La Mesa and Chula Vista, listing “safe staffing, fair sick policy and reasonable wages” as the three reasons why it is necessary to walk off shifts on what their union noted in a statement Monday is “one of the busiest weeks of the year for hospitals.”
Their contract expired on Sept. 30. Sharp nurses said in a statement released by the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals that they are “paid below market rate and struggle to support themselves and their families in one of the most expensive cities in the country.”
But Sharp, in its own statement on Nov. 14, called its proposed compensation package generous. Its nurses, Sharp said, “earn more than $77 per hour on average plus benefits.”
It is not clear how the strike will affect operations at Sharp facilities, though medical providers generally schedule fewer non-emergency cases during the holidays. Some medical studies have observed greater usage of emergency departments during holiday weekends, though New Years Day is generally cited as the busiest.
According to UNAC/UHCP, 97% of its Sharp members voted to authorize the strike, which begins at 7 a.m. Wednesday.