CHULA VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) – A large group of Sharp HealthCare workers hit the picket lines for the third time in as many weeks, this time demonstrating outside of Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center on Wednesday morning.
The workers, part of the SEIU-UHW union, have held demonstrations at Sharp’s Kearny Mesa and Grossmont locations in recent weeks.
Every unit within the SEIU-UHW union has demanded better pay and working conditions while claiming they are understaffed.
SEIU-UHW also said it wants all units represented at each of Sharp's locations to receive one contract with one standard for care and working conditions.
However, Sharp HealthCare Vice President of PR & Communications John Cihomsky explained that -- by law -- they will have to give each SEIU-UHW unit its own contract according to its hospital location.
Chomsky said this is because each hospital location's union members are unionized separately from each other.
Sharp has also refuted the union's claim about wages and staffing, stating that it's currently meeting all state-mandated staffing ratios and has an employee retention rate of around 90%.
Sharp also says it's actively recruiting for jobs that offer equitable pay at market value and provided a link to its career page to show its current openings.
Union member Regina Beasley said she has worked at Sharp hospital for 16 years, and she's a mother and recent widower. She shared that she makes less than $53,000 a year and is living paycheck-to-paycheck.
"Sharp needs to hear this from all of us who work on the frontlines that we are struggling. We are living paycheck-to-paycheck and that’s our fight. We need to be able to work and live in San Diego," Beasley said. "We've had high turnover due to our low pay; we've had maybe 10 workers in my department leave and go to other facilities where they pay higher."
Beasley said she works the midnight shift in the Labor and Delivery unit at Sharp Chula Vista, and she recalls an incident when having little staff on hand was concerning.
Beasley said a patient going into labor recently came into the hospital and was crowning.
"One worker was wheeling the patient, and another worker was holding the baby’s head so the baby wouldn’t fall on the floor," Beasley said. "That’s scary. That’s the issue we have when we’re short-staffed, which affects patient care. Imagine if another person wasn’t there. That baby could have fell on the floor. Those are issues that we deal with in the hospital dealing with being short staffed."
Jesus Lopez, a healthcare assistant at Sharp Chula Vista, also said he's felt the impacts of the staffing shortage. Recently, Lopez said he had over 30 patients waiting for care and as he was helping one patient, another waiting in line behind him started urinating on himself.
"It just feels like I'm not doing my job," Lopez said. "I feel guilty when that happens and just seeing the patient like that. They're embarrassed, you know, and they shouldn't have to deal with that."
On Aug. 28, from 6 a.m.-1 p.m., a picketing demonstration will be held at Sharp's Metropolitan Medical Campus.
The hospital claims it's making good progress on negotiations and tells ABC 10News that it has had 26 bargaining sessions so far with the Grossmont and Hospice Care bargaining units. The hospital said it has had four bargaining sessions with Chula Vista's unit so far.
The hospital said it is hoping to reach tentative agreements with each unit soon.
