NBC 7’s Kelvin Henry spoke with those on the picket lines about their concerns.
Health care workers will picket outside Sharp Chula Vista Hospital Wednesday, as the third week of protests seeking to address what they describe as safety concerns and chronic low wages driving a staffing crisis continues.
The workers, part of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, previously had demonstrations at Sharp HealthCare headquarters and Sharp Grossmont Hospital and intend to picket at Sharp Metropolitan Medical Campus next week.
"My coworkers and I show our dedication to patients every day, but we aren't given the pay we need to care for our own families," said Joyce Malveaux, a patient access services representative at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center. "It's hard to attract and retain health care workers for such low wages in an expensive area like Chula Vista, so we're always rushing from patient to patient and stretched thin. Our patients and our co-workers deserve better."
Sharp says the union's claims are overblown.
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"Sharp HealthCare wants the San Diego community to know that there are no threats to patient safety as the union has been claiming," Sharp representative John Cihomsky told City News Service. "Sharp meets all state-mandated staffing ratios and has an employee retention rate of around 90%, which is among the highest for hospital systems in California. Sharp also has an active recruitment campaign to fill open positions at market-equitable pay."
Cihomsky gives an example of an open radiologic technologist position at Sharp Grossmont Hospital listed on the hospital's careers website pays $39 an hour to $62 an hour, depending on experience. Pay ranges are shown for all the open positions.
The picketing workers say the company is misrepresenting the situation in the hospital and has also levied claims Sharp is cracking down on their right to organize and retaliating against workers.
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"Together, we've filed legal charges against Sharp because these conditions can't be ignored anymore," said David Robinson, a health care professional at Sharp Metropolitan Medical Campus. "They have tried to silence us and retaliate against us, but it didn't stop us. Now we're standing among thousands of unionized Sharp Healthcare workers, and we are united to improve care for our whole community."
As for Sharp's official line, it is open to negotiations.
"...we believe we are making progress toward securing an initial collective bargaining agreement for the Sharp Grossmont Hospital and Sharp HospiceCare bargaining units, having completed our 26th session last Wednesday with additional meetings scheduled for Aug. 22 and 23 and Aug. 28 and 29," Cihomsky said.
