The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has sided with the resident physicians at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx who are seeking to join a union and has directed that a union election should be held within 30 days. The decision was issued Friday. [Read the decision here.]

“This is a great victory for the community and for patient care,” said Dr. Nailah Thompson, Executive Vice President of the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR/SEIU Healthcare). “Giving these 280 resident physicians a real voice will improve patient care and make the hospital stronger for everyone.”

Nearly 90 percent of the resident physicians on staff signed a petition in January asking the hospital to recognize the Committee of Interns and Residents as their exclusive bargaining agent.

The hospital brought a challenge before the NLRB, arguing that residents are students, and not employees. After hearing testimony from resident physicians that they work up to 80 hours a week, six days a week, and function as front-line health care providers, NLRB Regional Director Celeste J. Mattina concluded that there is no doubt about the doctors’ status as employees.

“The Employer’s argument attempts . . . to denigrate the work that [the resident physicians] do at the hospital regarding the patient population,” Mattina wrote in her decision. “ . . . There is no question but that a very significant amount of the resident’s time is spent with patients providing medical services.”

Resident physicians chose to join CIR after attempts to collaborate with the administration to improve efficiency and cut costs failed. They are also seeking to bring their work conditions up to the standards of other hospitals in the Bronx. St. Barnabas resident physicians earn nearly $8,000 less than resident physicians at similar Bronx hospitals, and the hospital recently increased the cost of the health care plan for “non-union employees” at a time when resident physicians can least afford it.