Registered nurses, along with with dozens of other medical professionals with the Sharp Healthcare system, continued their strike Friday.
Picket lines were formed for the third and final day at the Sharp main campus in Serra Mesa, as well as at locations in the Grossmont area and Chula Vista.
The workers who walked off the job are members of the Sharp Professional Nurses Network (SPNN), an affiliate of United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP).
Since July, the nurses have worked without a contract, still bargaining with Sharp executives over issues that include a demand for higher pay and guaranteed sick leave.
“That’s what we’re fighting for,” said Rebecca Stewart, who has been an RN for six years.
Stewart was on the picket line with her 11-year-old son Teddy.
“I have four children,” Stewart told NBC 7. “When they’re sick, I have to choose between going into work or staying home to take care of them.”
Ninety-seven percent of the nurses voted to authorize the three-day strike that started Wednesday.
During negotiations that broke down earlier in the week, Sharp Healthcare management offered nurses 70 hours of paid sick leave “frontloaded” at the beginning of every year. Management had also guaranteed minimum pay increases for all 5,800 employees represented by the union.
Chief Nursing Executive Susan Stone spoke at a news conference on Wednesday when the walkout began.
“We will take a brief cooling off period to engage with a mediator,” Stone said. “Then we do have three negotiation sessions scheduled for mid-December.”
Back on the picket line, Stewart’s young son said, “I think [what my Mom does] is pretty awesome because she saves lives every time she goes to work.”
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