Residents, interns at Hennepin Healthcare file for union recognition
FILE — This file photo depicts Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. (KSTP/file)
Resident and intern physicians at Hennepin Healthcare filed for union recognition on Wednesday in hopes of improving pay and working conditions for professionals getting their start in the medical field.
A supermajority of more than 200 residents and interns voted in favor of securing collective bargaining rights with the Committee of Interns and Residents, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union with more than 37,000 members nationwide.
The doctors say they work up to 80 hours per week for what “amounts to as little as minimum wage per hour,” according to a news release from CIR/SEIU.
“[H]ospital administration basically uses residents to plug holes in an understaffed system,” Dr. Abishek Thatigutla said. “It’s simply not sustainable to keep pushing ourselves this much, and we’re unionizing not only to address our conditions but hopefully to improve the system itself.”
In addition to dissatisfaction with hours and wages, union members specifically cited difficulty for staff who are pregnant or have children.
“One thing that has motivated me to want to unionize and ensure we have a collective voice is that there just isn’t a whole lot of support for parents, and especially for pregnant physicians,” one CIR/SEIU member, Dr. Nicole Lund, said. “I want to leave this place better than I found it, and part of that is bringing in a more diverse resident body, which includes women and women having children.”
They’ve asked Hennepin Healthcare to voluntarily recognize their union.
Hennepin Healthcare provided the following statement to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS:
“Our institution deeply values our residents and their contributions to patient care, medical education, and research. We are committed to providing a supportive learning environment, fair compensation, and the necessary resources to help our trainees thrive in their careers. We recognize their legal right to consider union representation, and we respect their right to make this decision.”