Labor organizing efforts among resident physicians have started off 2025 with high activity.
Here are eight resident and fellow physician union actions Becker's has reported on in the month of January:
1. Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has stepped in amid an open-ended strike that began Jan. 10 at Providence hospitals and clinics across the state. In a joint statement shared with Becker's, the Oregon Nurses Association and Providence Oregon said they agreed — at Ms. Kotek's request — to re-engage in intensive, in-person mediation beginning Jan. 29 to end the strike.
Renton, Wash.-based Providence received a strike notice on Dec. 30 from the Oregon Nurses Association, a union representing nearly 5,000 Providence workers, including physicians, nurses and nurse practitioners. The health system said its lead negotiator has since approached federal officials to explore reopening mediation with hospitalists at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, and physicians and providers at Providence Women's Clinic.
2. Resident physicians, interns and fellows employed by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston voted 407-85 to join the Committee of Interns and Residents, which is affiliated with the Service Employees International Union.
3. Nearly 230 Care New England Health System resident and fellow physicians employed at Kent Hospital, Women & Infants Hospital and Butler Hospital in Rhode Island won their National Labor Relations Board elections to unionize, marking the second group in the state to do so.
4. Newark, Del.-based ChristianaCare residents and fellow physicians voted 111-52 to unionize, establishing the first resident and fellow physician union in the state.
5. Resident physicians and fellows at Jefferson Health in Philadelphia voted to join the Committee of Interns and Residents, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. This marks the third group of physicians in the city to unionize in recent weeks.
6. NYC Health + Hospitals physicians reached a tentative agreement with system management after postponing their previously planned strike. More than 2,500 attending physicians at the system had been negotiating a new contract since September 2023, according to a Jan. 13 news release from Doctors Council-SEIU shared with Becker's.
The agreement includes base salary increases, recognition bonuses based on years of service and time worked on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic, retention bonuses for designated specialists, restoration of cuts to sick leave hours and a $12 million flexible physician compensation.
7. Resident physicians and fellows at Philadelphia-based Temple University Hospital voted to join the CIR.
8. Resident physicians in Northern California reached a tentative labor contract with Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente Jan. 6. The agreement covers about 470 resident physicians who are members of the CIR.