Posts tagged physician assistants
Murmurs: PCC Spent $260,000 on Unemployment Benefits During Strike
May 26, 2026 // Senate Bill 916, which allows striking workers to access unemployment insurance during their time on the picket line, made Oregon the first state in the nation to require public employers to pay such benefits. Now we know how much that cost PCC. James Hill, a spokesman for the college, says it estimates it will incur about $260,000 in unemployment claims associated with the strike. (The average striking worker may claim unemployment starting in the third week of a strike, the same week the faculty union’s strike was resolved at PCC.) That number is significantly lower than the $1.45 million the college estimated it might have to pay each week, if all striking workers had filed claims. Public employers, often known as “reimbursing” employers, don’t opt to pay unemployment contributions to the state on a regular basis. Instead, such employers often reimburse the state dollar for dollar, which drove many public agencies to warn that the legislation would financially drain them. And while the state can relieve public employers of costs if they negotiate back pay agreements, PCC opted not to. The strikes at PCC were the first at a community college in Oregon’s history, and may have had broader implications for the institution. PCC president Adrien Bennings voluntarily separated from the college on May 14. The college’s board of trustees voted 6–1 to approve a $261,000 severance package—$1,000 more than it spent on striking workers—among other perks.
Is unionization of doctors a good idea amid rising patient loads? Editorial Board Roundtable
May 5, 2026 // Last Tuesday, organizers behind a proposed “Primary Care Providers Union of MetroHealth” asked the Cleveland hospital system to recognize the union immediately, without need for a unionization vote, Organizers seeking to create a chapter of AFSCME Ohio Council 8 said a majority of the MetroHealth physicians, physician assistants, advanced practice registered nurses and certified nurse practitioners eligible to join had already signed union cards.
Kaiser Permanente Nurses Ratify Contracts After Year of Strikes
March 24, 2026 // Agreements covering 31,000 health care professionals take effect at Pasadena-headquartered health system
Hospital chaos looms as tens of thousands of California nurses threaten walk off job despite proposed wage hikes
January 26, 2026 // In an effort to prevent the walkouts, Kaiser proposed a 21.5% wage increase, but the the union said the company refused to bargain in good faith
Allina Doctors Council announce 1-day strike happening Nov. 5
October 27, 2025 // Members of the Doctors Council at Allina Health announced the filing of a 10-day strike notice, which is the first time in Minnesota history physicians in the state have gone on strike.
3rd in a week: Michigan Medicine strikes deal with another health union
January 22, 2025 // Monday’s contract ratification follows two tentative deals announced last week. The Professional Employee Council of Sparrow Hospital-Michigan Nurses Association announced a deal on Jan. 14, while United Michigan Medicine Allied Professionals announced one the next day. Both tentative deals terminated a pair of planned strikes for what would have been a combined 6,500 medical professionals. The unions will have members vote to ratify contracts in the coming weeks, officials previously said.
On a roll: Clinic nurses and others vote to join USW
November 5, 2024 // Nearly 80 Squirrel Hill Health Center workers voted Thursday to join the United Steelworkers union, the latest victory for the Pittsburgh-based labor organization that has been expanding membership in recent years to university faculty, librarians and professional football players. The newly unionized workers serve as nurse practitioners, physician assistants, registered nurses, medical and dental assistants, therapists, front desk staff and others who work at the center’s four Pittsburgh area clinics.
ER doctors on strike at Ascension St. John Hospital over staffing issues
April 23, 2024 // Health care workers in the emergency department at Ascension St. John Hospital walked out of their workplace on Thursday, April 18. Doctors, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners who formed a union said earlier this month that their contract negotiations had been fruitless for months. The strike that followed this week was anticipated by both sides of the issue. The union said earlier this month that a strike was likely due to a breakdown of union negotiations. Emergency room staff on the picket line told Local 4 that their strike is about more than just money. Their main focus: Working conditions.
The House Passes a Bill to Give VA Medical Employees Greater Union Rights
December 20, 2022 // The VA Employee Fairness Act would grant medical professionals the right to bargain over scheduling and official time, and to file grievances over pay disputes. Physicians, dentists, registered nurses and physician assistants at the VA are hired under Title 38 of the U.S. Code, which prohibits collective bargaining over care and competency issues, as determined by the department’s secretary. During the Trump administration, that exception to collective bargaining was vastly expanded—and labor leaders and Democrats say, exploited—to include issues such as shift scheduling. Then-VA Secretary Robert Wilkie used it to ban Title 38 union officials from accessing official time altogether.