Nearly a thousand medical residents at Brown-affiliated hospitals are gearing up for bargaining after unionizing earlier this month. The residents announced plans to unionize in November, pushing for higher compensation and better working conditions to mitigate “rampant burnout.”
The resident physicians, who work in four hospitals across the Brown University Health and Care New England health systems, voted overwhelmingly to join the Committee of Interns and Residents in elections certified by the National Labor Relations Board on Jan. 7 and Jan. 15.
“It was a really, really incredible moment,” said Laura Schwartz, a fourth-year internal medicine and pediatrics resident at Rhode Island Hospital, adding that she hopes the unionization will “make things better for all of the residents and fellows that come after us.”
Residents at Brown University Health’s Rhode Island Hospital won their union election 464 to 27. Residents at three separate Care New England hospitals also voted to join CIR, with 73% of residents at Kent Hospital, 92% at Butler Hospital and 83% at Women and Infants Hospital voting in favor.
Following the election wins, residents are now preparing to negotiate separate contracts with each of their four hospital employers, Schwartz said. Organizers will survey residents across hospitals to determine priorities and solicit feedback to ensure fair representation during bargaining, she added.
In interviews with The Herald, residents said their top priorities are winning compensation increases and matching contributions to 401(k) retirement plans.
Felicia Sun, a fifth-year neurosurgery resident at Rhode Island Hospital, noted that residents don’t have access to benefits like loan forgiveness and education stipends like other physician employees.
“We are just trying to achieve some of those same benefits,” she said.
Residents come to Rhode Island in June to start orientation, but they do not get paid until July according to Natalie Duke, a third-year psychiatry resident at Butler Hospital.
“You have to make rent for two months without having a full paycheck,” Duke said.
Sun added that many international residents she knows have never been home due to not having the money or the time. “When we fight for something like extra vacation, it’s not just words on a page. … It’s our ability to have fulfilling lives and careers as physicians,” Sun said.
Schwartz acknowledged that the residents will face several bargaining challenges that are unique to their jobs. Since they are placed into their residencies through a single-offer match process, residents have little leverage to select and improve their offers unlike workers in other industries.
“Having a union has become an amazing way for residents and fellows to overcome the fact that they otherwise don't get to bargain the way that people typically do,” she said.
Organizers like Schwartz also want to achieve parity in compensation and working conditions across the four hospitals, she said.
“It’s really important that we’re compensated on par with one another across the different institutions,” Schwartz said, adding that there are “significant” pay gaps between residents who do similar work at different hospitals through Brown’s residency programs. But she acknowledged that residents may face challenges in harmonizing four separate contracts across two healthcare systems.
Another priority is for the residents to “have a seat at the table and a voice” to be heard within the hospital system, Sun said.
“One of the big disappointments is that all the decisions that impact us and that impact our patients, patient care and conditions are being made without us,” Sun said. “So this is our first foray into being able to have a voice and have a say in the conditions that impact us and our patients.”
Residents hope to have a productive relationship with the hospital leadership. Duke said residents are “approaching the bargaining process in good faith,” and hope Care New England will do the same.
Spokespeople from Care New England and Brown University Health both wrote in emails to The Herald that they intend to do so.
Clarification: A previous version of this article stated that Laura Schwartz is a pediatrics resident. Schwartz is a resident in the combined internal medicine and pediatrics program.
Ethan Schenker is a university news editor covering staff and student labor. He is from Bethesda, MD, and plans to study International and Public Affairs and Economics. In his free time, he enjoys playing piano and clicking on New York Times notifications.
Claire Song is a university news and science & research editor for The Herald. She is a sophomore from California studying Applied Math-Biology. She likes to drink boba in her free time.
