CONTRACT TALKS BEGIN AT SHARP GROSSMONT

Feds found labor organizers didn’t violate regulations

Federal officials have finally signed off on a new union for health care workers at Sharp Grossmont, allowing negotiations to begin over pay and staffing at East County’s only hospital.

The National Labor Relations Board certified the election June 14, months after hundreds of certified nursing assistants, laboratory technicians and other employees voted to unionize, officials said.

Contract talks began Monday.

Those negotiations include workers at the nearby Sharp Hospicecare, which similarly moved in April to join United Healthcare Workers West, an arm of the Service Employees International Union.

“We feel empowered,” Cecelia Madden, a Sharp respiratory therapist and a member of the bargaining team, said in a statement. “Now, we are ready to make real progress on our demands as healthcare workers to ensure our patients are safely staffed, our coworkers are fairly compensated, and our community gets the care it deserves.”

Hospital spokespeople confirmed the timeline of talks but declined to comment further.

The election certification came after federal investigators concluded that SEIU-UHW did not break the law when recruiting employees.

In two letters, the labor board dismissed a pair of allegations made by Sharp Grossmont leaders who alleged the union was too aggressive during the campaign.

A hospital spokesperson previously said they were “disappointed” by the ruling.

Both dismissal letters were dated June 1.

In one, investigators reviewed whether the union violated the National Labor Relations Act by allegedly “making harassing and repeated home visits” to Sharp staffers ahead of the vote. Federal officials also explored if representatives had been “photographing employees without an adequate explanation or consent.”

There was evidence that recruiters visited workers at their homes, the letters said. Yet there didn’t appear to be any accompanying “threats, acts of physical violence” or “other coercive conduct.”

The letters were signed by William B. Cowen, a regional director with the labor board.