Posts tagged physicians
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.
Providence, nurses union reach new tentative deal in 6-week-long strike
February 26, 2025 // The strike, which started Jan. 10, is the longest in Oregon’s health care history. Nearly 5,000 nurses walked off the job at Providence’s eight hospitals in Oregon in Hood River, Medford, Milwaukie, Newberg, Seaside and Oregon City and two in Portland. The strike also included nurses, physicians and other staff at Providence’s six women’s clinics in the Portland area and hospital physicians at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in southwest Portland. The physicians and clinic union members approved their deals but the nurses rejected the early agreement by more than 80%.
In Rare Move, Some Providence Physicians Prepare to Strike Alongside Nurses
January 8, 2025 // Thousands of Providence healthcare professionals around the state are preparing to strike, and for the first time in recent history, physicians are among their ranks. In late December, nearly 5,000 Providence healthcare professionals represented by the Oregon Nurses Association voted to approve a strike at all eight Providence hospitals to begin Jan. 10. The called strike came after several weeks of unsuccessful contract negotiations. The union claims the health care system fails to follow state staffing guidelines and doesn’t offer competitive wages and benefits. On Dec. 30, ONA gave the required 10-day notice to strike.
Cambridge Health Alliance Clinicians File for Unionization With Mass. Labor Relations
December 2, 2024 // The filing comes as healthcare workers at other local institutions are pushing to unionize. If successful, SHARE CHA would join another union of physicians and fellows at Cambridge Hospital — a member of CHA — who recently won their first contract after six months of negotiations. Recently, almost 300 physicians at Mass General Brigham also filed a petition to unionize with the NLRB. Rising costs have increased corporatization of medicine, forcing doctors to see more and more patients to turn a greater profit.
Tensions rising again at D.C. community health center as more staff leave
September 10, 2024 // The conditions prompted the union last month to authorize a strike, the final step before union members on the bargaining committee can call for a work stoppage, potentially interrupting care for the 1 in 8 D.C. residents who are Unity patients.
A Seat at the Table: Physicians Have Been Unionizing in Droves
January 3, 2024 // Mugdha Mokashi, MD, a second-year ob/gyn resident, emphasized that residents and fellows often take care of patients with the greatest needs and the fewest resources. "This is about having a seat at the table" to help make decisions that affect working conditions for residents and fellows, as well as others, including nurses and midwives, Mokashi told MedPage Today, adding that the people "directly responsible for making patient care better" should hold power within an institution.
New York: Elmhurst hospital physicians reach tentative deal after 3-day strike
May 25, 2023 // Elmhurst is a public hospital belonging to New York City’s Health + Hospitals system, but training physicians who went on strike are employed by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The resident strike at Elmhurst was the first in over three decades. “This fight was always about power, and Elmhurst residents are truly building that together,” a statement from Dr. Sarah Hafuth, a union leader for residents, reads in part. “I also know that we are part of a larger ongoing fight for justice in our lives and in health care — and we plan on continuing that fight.” Two other Queens hospitals, Jamaica Hospital Medical Center and Flushing Hospital Medical Center, averted a separate strike earlier this month after reaching a preliminary agreement with their employer, MediSys Health Network.
George Washington University Medical Residents Vote To Unionize
May 1, 2023 // Of the 455 residents and fellows eligible to vote, 253 ultimately cast their ballot in favor of organizing a unit, with 16 voting no. (To win, the group needed a simple majority.) They’ll be represented by the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR), an arm of Service Employees International Union (SEIU). CIR also represents the residents and interns at Children’s National Hospital and Howard University Hospital. The organizing campaign began around the fall of last year as Miller and other colleagues gauged interest amongst their coworkers and connected with residents at other programs who had led similar unionization drives. Before filing for the election, a majority (67%) of residents and fellows signed authorization cards to be represented by CIR. GWU declined to voluntarily recognize the union, prompting organizers to file for a ballot election with the National Labor Relations Board — which took place Thursday.
Physicians are moving to unionize: Where and when
March 27, 2023 // If housestaff unionize, more than 2,500 residents and fellows at MGB hospitals would join the Committee of Interns and Residents, according to The Boston Globe. This includes trainees at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Mass Eye and Ear, Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Salem Hospital, and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital Boston. Additionally, resident physicians and fellows at Philadelphia-based University of Pennsylvania Health System seek to form a union. The Feb. 21 filing seeks an election to vote on representation by the Committee of Interns and Residents. The union would represent about 1,500 interns, residents, chief residents and fellows. And a combined 1,600 physicians from Loma Linda (Calif.) University Health and the University at Buffalo (N.Y.) filed petitions in February with the National Labor Relations Board to join the Union of American Physicians and Dentists.