BRONX, NY – Elected officials, community leaders and doctors at St. Barnabas Hospital gathered Friday to celebrate a recent ruling by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that affirmed the right of the hospital’s 280 resident physicians to form a union.
“These resident doctors work up to 80 hours a week, six days a week, and give 100 percent to their patients,” said Dr. Toni Lewis, president of the Committee of Interns and Residents/SEIU Healthcare. “It’s great to have the NLRB validate the importance of their work. We’re gratified that these residents will have their chance to vote in a union election on whether to join CIR.”
Nearly 90 percent of the 280 resident physicians on staff signed a petition in January asking the hospital to recognize the Committee of Interns and Residents/SEIU Healthcare as their exclusive bargaining agent. They were disappointed when the hospital challenged the petition, arguing that residents are students and not employees.
The NLRB’s decision held that the St. Barnabas resident physicians have a right under federal labor law to join a union. Elected officials from across the city called it an important victory for patient care.
“This ruling from the National Labor Relations Board is good news for the resident physicians who have been working so hard to win the right to organize a union at St. Barnabas Hospital,” said New York State Senator George Onorato, who chairs the labor committee. “I hope the hospital administration and the resident physicians will soon come together to establish a new and effective working relationship – one that will ultimately help to achieve their overriding mutual goal of providing the best possible patient care.”
Assemblymen Michael Benjamin and Jose Rivera and Andrea Dozier of the Crotona Community Coalition joined CIR leaders in urging the hospital not to waste any more time and money by appealing the NLRB decision.
Statements of support from 1199 SEIU, the Central Labor Council, Bronx Council members Annabel Palma and G. Oliver Koppell and Assemblyman Nelson Castro were also read. The elected officials urged the hospital to respect the NLRB decision, allow residents to vote in a union election, and honor the results of that election.