CIR In Action
CIR works because it is run by residents, for residents. Housestaff determine what the priorities are for their own hospitals. Here's what CIR members have to say about their past achievements. CIR worked for them, and it can work for you, too.
CIR Helps Save Family Medicine Program at Robert Wood Johnson in New Jersey
"Labor rights are not just about getting a paycheck. Participating in CIR is the best thing I ever did in my residency,” said Dr. Kennedy Ganti. “CIR makes us a force to be reckoned with, which helps in negotiations, and it helps residents that CIR is there for the health of residents and their programs. There are Family Medicine programs closing throughout the country. What do we have that they don’t? We have CIR.
"When I joined this residency, it was as stable as anything. I didn’t think I’d have to fight, but these fights are going to become more commonplace at clinics, hospitals and specialty programs,” he said.
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CIR Wins Substantial Wage Increases Two Years in a Row in New Mexico
"Before we joined CIR/SEIU fellows like myself in their fourth year of training were earning $42,661.00 a year," said Shadi Battah, CIR member and PGY 4 Fellow in Pulmonary Disease/Critical Care. "After bargaining our first wage increase in 2007 and again this spring the salary rate for a fourth year resident will increase to $50,555.00 on July 1, 2008. This raise represents the power of collective bargaining and having a unified voice."
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California CIR Members Stand Up for Safe Staffing
“This gross understaffing is dangerous to our patients, as social workers are imperative to patient flow and overall well-being,” said CIR Psychiatry Representative Dr. R. Scott Bailey.
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NYC Public Hospital Victory Yields Big Gains for 2,000 CIR Residents, Including Orientation Pay
“I remember personally how hard it was during orientation, having to pay to stay somewhere in the city and come into the hospital, but not yet be on payroll,” said Dr. Bilal Naseer, a PGY 3 in Internal Medicine at Harlem Hospital and a member of the bargaining committee. “At CIR, we always try to look at the broader picture and not be selfish. Anything we can do for incoming housestaff is important to us.”
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