Posts tagged doctors
Commentary Kim Kavin: Worse than California’s AB5
May 6, 2025 // They tried, and failed, to do just that back in 2019-20 with legislation that mirrored California’s disastrous freelance-busting ABC Test law. Independent contractors from all across New Jersey cried foul. Our elected officials ultimately decided this policy was a bad idea for the Garden State. Trenton bureaucrats are now moving to impose this ABC Test interpretation on us all anyway, through rule-making, in their final months of having power before this fall’s election.
In unusual move, doctors vote to unionize at N.J. healthcare giant
May 5, 2025 // A group of doctors who work for both RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers University voted to unionize earlier this week, union officials said. The physicians — who work for Rutgers 10% of the time and RWJBarnabas 90% of the time — were hired as “clinically focused university practitioners,” or CFUP. They are both physicians and faculty members at the state university.
University of Minnesota doctors file to unionize with country’s largest doctors’ union
March 26, 2025 // The union says physicians at the school are struggling with low wages and lack of staffing. "These and other issues compound the impact of an already highly stressful workplace and lead to rampant burnout — making it difficult for doctors to want to stay in Minnesota after they complete their training at UMN," the release said. The University of Minnesota Labor Rights Coalition helped physicians in their move to file.
White Coats Take a Cue From Blue Collars
February 26, 2025 // Harking back to the emergence of physician unions, we're seeing a resurgence of interest among resident physicians in hospitals across the country. To varying degrees, U.S. hospitals still require resident physicians to work long, irregular hours (in some cases as many as 80 hours a week). In combination with other adverse workplace issues, this has led to house staff dissatisfaction with the status quo and, ultimately, to unionization.
Unionized Workers At Mass General Brigham Withdraw Unfair Labor Practice Charge
February 25, 2025 // The union is currently in the process of negotiating its first contract with MGB, stalled 13 months after bargaining began over wage increases and fertility benefits. According to Harvard Law School professor Benjamin I. Sachs, an expert in labor law, unions may hesitate to file charges with the NLRB out of fear that the cases will be used to reverse longstanding worker protections.
Commentary: Why does the US have it in for gig workers?
February 9, 2025 // There’s no argument that the gig economy has surged dramatically, particularly since the pandemic. More than 20m new businesses have launched since 2020, the great majority of those representing side hustlers, independent contractors and freelancers. According to data reported in Forbes, an estimated 64 million Americans, representing 38% of the US workforce, did freelance work in 2023, which is up by 4 million people over the previous year, and contributed almost $1.3tn in annual earnings to the US economy. Is the IRS that fearful over the loss of tax revenues? As a business owner, I don’t pay employer taxes when I hire freelancers. But the freelancer is responsible for paying a “self-employment” tax when they file their tax returns, so if they’re doing what they’re supposed to do, there shouldn’t be much difference. Most states have similar tax arrangements. If a taxpayer fails to report those earnings, then that’s on them. They’re breaking the law and risk penalties or even prison.
Providence and nurses at 8 Oregon hospitals reach tentative agreement after 26 days of strike
February 6, 2025 // Providence and nurses at its eight Oregon hospitals have reached a tentative agreement after 26 days of strike, in what the state's nurses union has described as the largest health care strike in state history.
Lawmakers Will Consider Unemployment Benefits for Striking Workers
February 3, 2025 // Senate Bill 916, written at the request of the AFL-CIO of Oregon, would amend current Oregon law, which deems strikers ineligible for unemployment. The bill has not yet been scheduled for a hearing but has been assigned to the Senate Committee on Labor and Business. Given that the committee’s chair, state Sen. Kathleen Taylor (D-Portland), is one of the bill’s chief sponsors, it is highly likely to get an airing. It doesn’t hurt that the labor group that requested the bill, the AFL-CIO, represents 288 unions, which in turn represent more than 300,000 Oregon workers.
Providence health care strike reaches third week with no resolution
January 29, 2025 // The union added that there has been “zero movement” on critical issues like wages and health benefits where discussions have occurred. Providence said that the union’s proposals “are not financially sustainable.” The Renton, Washington-based health system added that its negotiators are working closely with federal mediators to negotiate with the union and that it expects “a lengthy walkout.” Providence largely refrained from negotiating before and during the early days of the strike, citing the need to prioritize stabilizing operations to keep hospitals running.
Providence says operations are smooth despite 5,000 striking at its hospitals, women’s clinics
January 14, 2025 // Nearly 5,000 Providence Health & Systems nurses and other professionals walked off their jobs Friday in the largest strike by health workers in state history — and the first involving unionized doctors. Picket lines formed in the early-morning hours outside Providence’s eight Oregon hospitals, while replacement workers started their shifts.