CIR Meets New Jersey Governor Corzine

From Left to Right: NJ Area Director Cliff Freid, Regional Vice President Dr. Michael Nagar, Governor Jon S.Corzine, and Dr. Avishek Kumar.

On August 8, New Jersey CIR members received a commitment from Governor Jon Corzine that residents affiliated with a new medical school will have the right to join CIR as state employees, if they so choose.

The meeting at Rutgers University was an endorsement interview conducted by the SEIU NJ State Council, of which CIR is a member. Although CIR does not plan to endorse a candidate in this year’s elections, CIR doctors were invited to participate in the forum.

Dr. Michael Nagar, CIR Regional Vice President for NJ and Washington, DC, took the opportunity to ask the governor about how the new affiliation of Cooper Hospital with Rowan University will affect residents.

The new Rowan Medical School will be fully funded by the state.Legislation concerning the new medical school is being drafted now, Dr. Nagar explained, but there has been no word about how the new residents affiliated with Rowan will be classified. Dr. Nagar asked Gov. Corzine if these new residents will be treated like all other state employees, who are able to join a union through majority sign up.

He also asked if he would specify in the legislation that even if residents are paid by Cooper Hospital,they would receive the same right to be a part of CIR.

Gov. Corzine responded that, “Yes,the new residents from Rowan or Copper will be eligible for the PERC card check.” Employees not covered by the Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) “card check” or majority sign up are often forced to go through a lengthy petition and election process in order to gain union representation.

Dr. Nagar also raised concerns about whether resident positions at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital that are paid for by Cooper University Hospital will lose their funding because of these changes. The governor responded that, “There will be no negative impact on any current residency positions; I guarantee that.”

The CIR members at the meeting left feeling reassured about their residency positions and impressed with the governor’s understanding of issues important to them.