Nurses at Sharp Cabrillo Skilled Nursing Center may strike Monday if Sharp HealthCare management and representatives from the United Nurses Association of California/Union of Health Care Professionals fail to reach a contract agreement.
Negotiations have been ongoing for the last two months.
Representatives of Sharp Professional Nurses Network and UNAC/UCHP served Sharp HealthCare with a notice of their intention on July 5, threatening a three-day strike ” beginning Monday at 7 a.m. and ending Wednesday at 7 p.m. ” if their demands for new contract language are not addressed, said Corinne Hollings, a registered nurse and president of Sharp Professional Nurses Network.
Hollings has been a nurse for 36 years, 21 of which were spent in the emergency room at Sharp Chula Vista, she said.
She said requests for contractual language freezing nurse-to-patient ratio at levels mandated by state law and more union access, among other issues, have gone unheeded by Sharp management.
“Calling a strike was the last choice,” Hollings said. “Nurses don’t go into nursing to think about strikes.”
Hollings said Sharp Cabrillo Skilled Nursing Center, at 3475 Kenyon St. in Point Loma, was included on the list of seven Sharp HealthCare hospitals and medical centers where nurses are prepared to strike. But Hollings added she did not know if nurses there would actually picket Monday.
Federal law requires unionized healthcare workers to give their employer a 10-day notice before initiating a strike.
Hollings said an “overwhelming majority” of Sharp nurses voted on Friday, June 29, to serve Sharp with the notice, although she did not specify how many nurses voted.
The contract between Sharp and the nurses expired June 30, she said.
As part of their new contract, the nurses want language reflecting the state-mandated ratio of two patients for every nurse in the intensive care unit and a four patients-to-one ratio in the emergency room.
Hollings said it is important that the ratios be written into the contract in case state law changes in the future.
The nurses also want more power to arbitrate over quality-of-care issues, Hollings said. She said a final “decision-maker” would be helpful in settling disagreements over issues such as cleanliness and equipment.
The union filed an Unfair Labor Practice complaint against Sharp in March over union access to nurses, she said.
Nurses also want more union access to facilities and employees, she said. Currently, Sharp prohibits nurses from discussing union matters in patient-care areas, she said.
John Cihomsky, vice-president of public relations for Sharp, said although these issues are important, the nurses are actually angling for a “closed shop,” meaning that every nurse hired by Sharp would be part of the union and have to pay union dues.
Sharp currently runs an “open shop,” which gives nurses a choice when it comes to joining a union.
Cihomsky said a majority of Sharp nurses have chosen not to be dues-paying union members. He said repeated attempts at negotiations have not yielded results.
One of the offers made by Sharp to the nurses included a 16 percent pay increase over the course of the three-year contract, Cihomsky said.
He said Sharp nurses make an average of $84,000 a year.
“We’re hopeful that we’ll come to an agreement before the strike would actually happen,” he said.
But there seems to be no agreement in sight as Sharp has already taken steps to prepare for the labor action. Cihomsky said Sharp has contracted with the nursing firm of Health Source Global Staffing to fill any positions made vacant by striking nurses.
He said Sharp will continue to provide the same quality of care for its patients and that hospitals should not see any reduction in the numbers of nurses on duty.
Cihomsky said Sharp will accommodate the temporary staff with lodging, food, travel expenses and adequate pay.
Although the notice says the strike will last for three days, Sharp will employ Health Source Global staff for all five weekdays next week, Cihomsky said.
This means there may be days when nurses who want to go back to work will not be able to.
Cihomsky said Sharp is scheduled to hire nurses for the full week because some nurses will be either on strike or taking scheduled days. As a result, the facilities need to be adequately staffed during the potential strike period.
The San Diego-based Sharp HealthCare includes four acute-care hospitals and three specialty hospitals.
The medical centers have over 1,800 beds and more than 13,000 employees.
Hollings said the nurses’ union bargaining unit represents 3,400 nurses, of which 1,600 are dues-paying members.
Both sides said they are unsure how many nurses will participate in the possible action.