HEALTH CARE WORKERS AT SHARP HOSPITAL CONSIDERING UNION

Election would take place in the first week of February

Hundreds of health care workers at East County’s only hospital will be able to vote early next month on whether to form a union, part of a wave of organizing around the country amid a lingering pandemic, inflation and the threat of a recession.

While nurses are already unionized at Sharp Grossmont, more than 1,400 certified nursing assistants, technicians and other employees now have the option of joining United Healthcare Workers West, part of the Service Employees International Union.

Several Sharp workers spoke Tuesday at a La Mesa City Council meeting to say the hospital suffered from poor staffing and low pay that risked patient safety.

“I’ve worked many days where we are short on needed supplies to complete our jobs, short on staff,” said Joni Vargas, a laboratory phlebotomist. “Yet we’ve been expected to carry on.”

Hospital officials defended their track record and denied allegations that they were distributing misinformation or discouraging voting.

“We encourage all eligible employees to participate in the upcoming secret ballot election,” Scott Evans, senior vice president and market CEO for Sharp Healthcare Regional Hospitals, said in a statement. “While we hope they vote no to unionization, we respect each employee’s right to make their own individual decision, and we will respect the ultimate outcome of the election.”

Even as the threat of COVID wanes, outbreaks of Mpox, RSV, the f lu and other ailments have strained workplaces nationwide.

The National Labor Relations Board will oversee the election Feb. 1-3, and results could be known as soon as that Friday. A simple majority is needed to form a union.

Six employees said unionization was necessary to reduce turnover and improve care.

Cops escorting people experiencing a mental health crisis sometimes had to wait for long periods because there were no staff available, one said. In a later interview, another described patients having to sit in their own waste because there was not a certified nursing assistant who could quickly change or bathe them.

Managers had ripped union badges off clothes and thrown away food with union stickers, a respiratory therapist said, in addition to repeatedly holding antiunion meetings. Employees balancing multiple jobs were told their schedules could become more inflexible under a union, said Habacuc Serrano, an emergency room technician.

While the hospital has given raises, they were not enough to keep up with the cost of living, employees said.

“Year after year, things have gotten harder to survive in this area,” said Fatima Ghoulam, a certified nursing assistant. “I know Sharp Grossmont could do better.”

Hospital officials pushed back.

Sharp has long been “a great place to receive safe, high-quality health care services,” according to a statement sent by a spokesman. “Practitioners and employees join and stay with Sharp because of our competitive pay, excellent benefits and nurturing environment where all voices are heard.”

The company said it was not out of line to “share its position on unionizing so our employees have more complete, balanced information to consider.”

If the union effort succeeds, workers would pay dues of 2 percent after negotiating a new contract, according to Cass Gualvez, director of organizing for SEIU-UHW.

La Mesa’s City Council also voted Tuesday on a resolution endorsing “free and fair union elections” at the hospital.

While the measure is largely symbolic, several leaders criticized Sharp, which is the city’s largest employer.

“La Mesa absolutely has a stake in making sure the workers there are treated fairly,” said Vice Mayor Colin Parent, who previously sent a letter to Sharp’s CEO warning against “management intimidation.”

Some residents objected to council members commenting on the issue, even if the resolution didn’t explicitly endorse unionization.

Councilmember Laura Lothian agreed the workers’ stories “sound terrible,” but she said it remained inappropriate to weigh in.

“We’re inserting ourselves in a negotiation between a private health care place and their staff,” Lothian said before casting the resolutions lone “no” vote.

blake.nelson@sduniontribune.com