UCLA, UCSF, UC Davis, and UC Olive View Resident Physicians Hold Unity Break in UC System-Wide Advocacy
Various cities, California —Resident physicians and fellows at the University of
California health system, represented by the Committee of Interns and Residents
(CIR-SEIU), held actions across five UC campuses this week to bring attention to
their system-wide fight for improved patient care and fair contracts across all
hospitals.
The University of California’s healthcare system is the largest provider in the state,
serving some of the most vulnerable patients throughout California. “Across the state,
we’re fighting to be paid fairly and treated with respect, so that we can lead whole
lives outside of the hospital,” said Dr. Ariel Wu, a second-year emergency medicine
resident at UCLA. “That will allow us to deliver the best patient care possible –
because our basic needs are met. With over 5,000 of us across the UC system, the
impact on patients throughout California will be massive.”
“I know I’m not alone among Californians in believing that our state can lead the way
in ensuring ordinary people have what they need to live and thrive. I am proud to
stand with healthcare workers who deserve to be paid enough to live and given
enough time to sleep and to take care of themselves so they can better care for all of
us. To do that, the University must give CIR resident physicians, who are at the
center of patient care, the fair contracts they need now,” said Los Angeles City
Councilmember-elect Katy Young Yaroslavsky.
The Unity Break action was part of a successful week of actions across the system,
where the historic 1UC organizing campaign successfully secured representation for
the thousands of current and future UC hospital residents. This organizing effort was
completed earlier this year, and is the nation’s largest resident physician organizing
campaign to date.
“Resident physicians’ well-being is the well-being of their patients,” said Los Angeles
City Councilmember-elect Hugo Soto-Martinez. “So these frontline health care
workers are fighting not just for themselves, but for the health of our state, which is a
cause that has never been more important. The University of California health
system has a responsibility to the people in its care to deliver fair contracts to CIR
residents and fellows now, and I am so proud to be in solidarity with them.”
Residents came together to improve their working conditions and ability to provide
quality patient care. “The University of California can afford to do better by its
frontline resident physicians by setting a minimum standard for residency system-
wide,” said Dr. Thadeus Odom, a second-year psychiatry resident at UC Davis. “In
fact, they can’t afford not to. Along with other hospital workers, we’re at the center of
patient care, and the University must agree to our demands if it wants to live up to its
mission and promise for the people of California.”
With the system fully unionized, doctors are advocating to raise the UC’s standards
of care and its treatment of frontline healthcare workers. Their actions follow this
week’s strike of almost 50,000 UC employees affiliated with UAW, who walked off the
job on Monday. The system’s resident physicians are proud to stand in solidarity with
their academic employee colleagues, whose actions are reflective of the larger
underlying inequities that plague the UC-system and its treatment of its frontline
medical and academic workers.
The actions were held at the University of California, Davis; University of California,
Los Angeles’ Ronald Reagan and Olive View hospitals; and University of California,
San Francisco’s Mission Bay and Parnassus hospitals.
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 22,000 resident physicians and fellows. Our members are
dedicated to improving residency training and education, advancing patient care, and
expanding healthcare access for our communities.
