Medical residents and fellows at the state’s largest health system have voted to unionize, creating one of the largest unions of its kind in the country.
In a final vote of 1,215 to 412, residents and fellows at multiple Mass General Brigham hospitals voted to join the Committee of Interns and Residents, or CIR, at the Service Employees International Union, including trainees at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Mass Eye and Ear, Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Salem Hospital, and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital Boston. In total, approximately 75 percent of the more than 2,000 eligible members participated in the vote.
Dr. Kayty Himmelstein, a second year infectious disease fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and a member of the organizing committee for the union, said she cried tears of joy after finding out about the win.
“It sends a pretty resounding message. We voted three to one to join a union, we had overwhelming support,” she said. “[I’m] excited to celebrate and to get to work negotiating our new contract.”
In a statement, Dr. Paul Anderson, interim chief academic officer at Mass General Brigham, said the mission of the organization remained unchanged, and the health system would work within the parameters that would be established by the union’s collective bargaining process.
“As an organization dedicated to training the next great generation of caregivers, we are proud of the education that we provide to our residents and fellows, and we recognize the vital importance of the unique partnership between faculty and trainees in our institutions,” he said. “While we are disappointed with the outcome, this election is part of a continuing national trend among medical trainees seeking collective bargaining through union representation. "
The unionization is only the latest to occur nationwide. Representatives from CIR-SEIU have previously said its membership has grown by more than 50 percent since 2020, to 25,000 members, as the pandemic put unprecedented strain on hospital staff. The union added 4,700 members in the last 11 months alone. Membership currently includes Stanford Health Care, University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, Montefiore Medical Center in New York, and Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
In Massachusetts, Boston Medical Center and Cambridge Health Alliance have been unionized for several years.
Jessica Bartlett can be reached at jessica.bartlett@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @ByJessBartlett.
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June 09, 2023 at 12:59AM
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Residents, fellows at Mass General Brigham vote to unionize - The Boston Globe
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