Thousands of Sharp HealthCare workers marched around the block of Sharp Hospital Friday morning with pickets in hand as they made their demands for better wages and working conditions loud and clear.
Healthcare workers part of the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) told ABC 10News they needed to earn more from Sharp, and some felt they needed protection while on the job.
"I work at Sharp and I also have another job at another organization," David Robinson, one of the workers on the picket line, said. "Sharp basically pays for my rent and the other organization pays for the rest of my bills."
"Management doesn't care for their employees. A lot of us have gotten hurt; they denied us workman's comp. Patients have gotten more violent, and they attack the employees," Lorena Rodriguez, another Sharp HealthCare worker, said.
SEIU-UHW told ABC 10News Sharp's Metropolitan campus just unionized two weeks ago; the Chula Vista location unionized back in April, and Grossmont unionized in Feb. 2023. In total, 5,000 Sharp HealthCare employees are in the union.
A union spokesperson told 10News all of the unionized workers are part of SEIU-UHW, and they are fighting to bargain under one contract; however, the spokesperson says Sharp wants to bargain separately with the individual facilities.
"The workers all have the same concerns over patient care issues and working conditions and want to bargain together," the spokesperson said via text message.
John Cihomsky, Vice President of PR and Communications with Sharp Hospital, issued a statement countering some of the union's claims.
Sharp said while they support SEIU-UHW's speech and assembly freedoms, their claim that Sharp was against pay raises is not true.
Sharp said they supported the new California law to raise wages to $25 per hour for their healthcare workers.
In May, Sharp said it increased wages to $23 per hour.
Sharp also said SEIU-UHW claimed that they were losing valuable staff because of low pay.
Sharp said the state has recognized it for having a 90% retention rate, one of the highest in California's hospital industry.
There are more counters from Sharp and the full statement can be seen here:
SEIU-UHW said over the next few weeks, there will be more marches at Sharp's Chula Vista, Grossmont, and Metropolitan campuses.
