LA MESA, Calif. –  Today, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) dismissed both of the bogus unfair labor practice charges that Sharp Healthcare filed against SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) regarding an election in which 1500 workers at Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa voted decisively to form a union.

An NLRB Regional Director found that Sharp Healthcare failed to provide any evidence to support its claim that the union engaged in any intimidation or harassment. These are some of the same claims that Grossmont has based their objections to the election on, which they have used to delay negotiations over crisis-level staffing shortages and low pay.

“It’s time for Sharp Healthcare to withdraw their objections to the election at Sharp Grossmont Hospital, stop the election denialism, and bargain with their employees to improve care for patients and the community,” said Habacuc Serrano, an emergency room technician at Sharp Grossmont Hospital.

The election took place between February 1-3 and covers 1,500 frontline workers at the facility, making it among the largest number of workers at a California hospital to go union in a decade. The victory was decisive: 55 percent of the workers voting supported joining SEIU-UHW.

For years, healthcare workers at Sharp Grossmont Hospital have struggled with staffing shortages, safety concerns, and wages far below market for this region — even as these caregivers have risked their lives to serve the community throughout the pandemic.

Sharp Healthcare made a net income of over $1.17 billion from 2020 to 2021, according to its own financial disclosures.  Sharp has received $256 million in federal, taxpayer-funded COVID-19 funds, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. The company CEO was paid $1.68 million in 2020.

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SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) is a healthcare justice union of more than 100,000 healthcare workers, patients, and healthcare activists united to ensure affordable, accessible, high-quality care for all Californians, provided by valued and respected healthcare workers. Learn more at www.seiu-uhw.org