1,200+ Bronx Doctors to Rally for Fair Contract, Investment in Patient Care

July 5, 2024

Montefiore Residents Demand Better for Bronx in First Union Contract in 40 Years

Bronx, NYC – The resident and fellow physicians of Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx will rally and speak out in front of the system’s Moses Campus this Wednesday, 7/10. Represented by the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR/SEIU), the doctors face widespread understaffing and continued divestment in services for the Bronx. They are calling on Montefiore President and CEO Dr. Philip Ozuah to invest in the community’s health by agreeing to a fair first contract for the frontline providers at the heart of patient care.

As the primary care providers for a majority of Montefiore’s Bronx patients, the over 1,200 resident physicians regularly work over 80+ hour weeks to deliver quality, community-centered care to the largely immigrant and working-class communities of color they serve. However, after months of protracted negotiations without an agreement, residents say that they are suffering from widespread burnout and financial hardship due to their inadequate pay and chronic understaffing. Amidst the devastating cost of living crisis, many struggle to afford basic necessities such as housing, groceries, and childcare.

After the groundbreaking agreement secured by CIR physicians at city hospitals last month, Montefiore doctors are earning thousands less than their peers in comparable residency and fellowship programs, and are now among the lowest-paid housestaff in the city. Unless Montefiore management agrees to a fair contract soon, residents are concerned that the system will struggle to attract and retain talented doctors.

WHO: Resident and fellow physicians employed by Montefiore Hospital, joined by Bronx community members. With understaffing reaching critical levels, residents are increasingly exploited as a stopgap, regularly working over 80+ hour weeks.

WHAT: Residents will hold a rally in the community to demand a fair contract and improved conditions. As the lowest-paid residents in the Bronx, the doctors are fighting for critical improvements in workplace conditions, increased pay, and the creation of a new Patient Care Trust Fund to fund essential hospital equipment and community health programs.

WHERE: Outside of Montefiore Hospital’s Moses Campus, 111 East 210th Street, Bronx NY 10467.

WHEN: Wednesday, July 10th, 2024. The unity break rally will take place from 7:00 PM to 7:30 PM, with a neighborhood street fair starting at 6:30 PM

The Montefiore doctors re-unionized with CIR/SEIU last year, more than 40 years after the NLRB’s now-reversed Cedars-Sinai decision stripped them of their collective bargaining rights in the early 1980s.

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The Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR) is the largest house staff union in the United States, a local of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) representing over 34,000 resident physicians and fellows. Our members are dedicated to improving residency training and education, advancing patient care, and expanding healthcare access for our communities.

Understanding S.P.I.T.

What are the benefits of forming a union?

When we come together as housestaff, we have a unified voice for safe working conditions and better patient outcomes. This pandemic has demonstrated that having workplace representation is urgent and necessary. Thousands of residents across the country have organized union chapters and have won historic improvements for housestaff and patients through collective bargaining agreements.

What’s legal? What’s not?

The laws vary from state to state as well as the type of employer you are paid by – private or public.Generally, however, most laws give employees the right to act together to try and improve their working conditions, with or without a union.It is illegal for employees to be fired, suspended, or otherwise penalized for taking part in protected group activity.

Generally, it is illegal for employers to S.P.I.T.:

(Document any activity that may look like this)

Surveil

Administration and department leadership may not conduct unlawful surveillance of employees’ union activity. Identifying, tracking and surveillance of employee discussions about the union or union meetings is illegal.

Examples:

Supervisors cannot inquire about what goes on at union meetings, ask which employees attend the meeting, or even give the impression of such surveillance.

Promise

Administration and department leadership must not directly or indirectly promise any benefits or reward employees for refusing to sign a union card, or for voting against your union. They may not promise a wage increase or give preferential treatment in exchange for refraining from union activity. Encouraging employees to withdraw or repudiate union authorization cards is also unlawful. They may not solicit grievances about working conditions while expressly or impliedly promising corrections if residents do not form a union.

Examples:

“I can get you a job here or give you a good recommendation letter if you don’t get involved.”

Reminder: There is nothing holding management accountable to any promises they make and they do not have to follow through.

Interrogate

Administration and department leadership should not interrogate, or ask, any employee whether or not he or she favors the union, has signed a union card, or has gone to a union meeting.

You can always say you’re not comfortable answering their questions. Remember to ask whether they’ve talked to others, whether they know if they’re allowed to ask, and if they have concerns about residents forming a union and what they are.

Questions they may ask:

Have you heard of a union being formed? Are you involved? Have you been asked to sign a card? Do any of your colleagues have interest in forming a union? Who have you heard union talk from? Do you think you’ll join?

Threaten

Administration and program leadership must not threaten employees with harm or reprisals (economic or otherwise) if they decide to get involved with the union or sign a union card.

Examples:

Administration may not threaten to take away residency spots or current department benefits if the residents decide to form or join a union.

What can we do to protect ourselves?

Despite being generally protected, it is always a good idea to be extra careful:

Remember to be discrete and never seek advice or reveal to management/administration that you are considering unionizing
Refrain from using hospital property – both physical (printers, computers, phones) – and intellectual (email, paging/messaging systems) – in communicating regarding union matters
Be mindful of where and when you discuss unionization with your colleagues – being overheard talking about unions in the hospital “on company time” can be considered “solicitation,” so exercise caution and discretion
As long as you are using personal means of communication such as personal phones, emails, and only talking to other interns, residents, or fellows, the hospital cannot discipline you

Reminder: Forming a union is 100% our legal right and our vote is anonymous.

1,200+ Bronx Doctors to Rally for Fair Contract, Investment in Patient Care

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