Resident physicians, fellows at University of Maryland Medical Center push for union

Resident physicians and fellows at the University of Maryland Medical Center have notified the hospitals’ leaders of their intent to unionize and begin the collective bargaining process.

The group includes about 950 residents — doctors who have graduated from medical school but are getting post-graduate training in their specialties — between the downtown and midtown campuses, according to medical center spokeswoman Tiffani Washington. They are organizing with the Maryland chapter of the American Federation of Teachers.

If the drive is successful, it will be the first time that a group of residents and fellows unionizes in Maryland, said Ray Baker, AFT Maryland’s communications director. The organization already represents nurses at some state psychiatric hospitals and some who work for county health departments.

In a statement, Michael Schwartzberg, a spokesman for the University of Maryland Medical System, confirmed that a group of residents and fellows at the medical center presented a demand for union recognition.

“The work of our medical residents and fellows is foundational to the world class compassionate care we provide to Marylanders and we are grateful for their deep commitment to our patients,” he said. “UMMC is at all times guided by our core values, which include compassion, integrity and excellence. It is with these values in mind that we will review the materials shared today.”

In recent months, residents at medical centers across the country — including in Detroit, New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. — have voted to unionize, citing reasons like long and irregular hours, low pay and inconsistent benefits.

Moving forward, leaders at the University of Maryland Medical Center will have the opportunity to voluntarily recognize the residents’ union. If they choose not to, the National Labor Relations Board — the federal agency in charge of safeguarding the right of workers to organize — would schedule an election, in which residents would vote whether or not to unionize.

Either way, those involved in the unionization push say they are confident it will succeed.

“We are asking for voluntary recognition because we know that we have a large supermajority of residents and we have a large cohort that’s in support,” said Dr. Sylvia Lane, a second-year resident physician in internal medicine and pediatrics. “We would love to have the hospital go along and acknowledge us right away, but if we do need to go to the NLRB for an election, I think we have a really strong amount of residents who are on board.”

Talk of forming a union has percolated for several years among residents at the hospitals, although turnover in the program — with new doctors arriving each year and others leaving — and fear of retaliation have presented some difficulty for organizing efforts, said Dr. Nazary Nebeluk, a second-year resident physician in the center’s internal medicine research pathway program.

Many residents feel like administrators don’t consider their voices before making changes to programs or workflow at the medical center, Nebeluk said. Benefits also vary between programs — while residents in some programs get free parking, for instance, Nebeluk said, others have to pay.

Those involved in the unionization push aren’t advocating for a one-size-fits-all approach for departments, Nebeluk added, but rather hope that if certain benefits are guaranteed by the hospital, departments will be free to use their funds to go “above and beyond” to support their trainees.

Wages offered by the hospitals also are lower than competing hospitals, Nebeluk and Lane said. Johns Hopkins Medicine, for instance, paid first-year residents $67,477 last year. The University of Maryland Medical Center offered $60,557 to first-year residents last year, but increased their salary to $63,009 this year.

The biggest reason many residents want a union, Nebeluk said, is because it would improve patient care.

“If you’re worried about unpaid bills or whether you have money for an upcoming dental procedure or if you have the money to take care of your own health, that can distract you and cause problems,” said Nebeluk, who will become an infectious disease fellow in July.

“Of course,” he added, “you’re going to do everything you can to provide good patient care, but this helps ease up some of that pressure and lets people really focus and give their all, and provide the people in Baltimore the care they deserve.”

The residents’ push follows a successful vote to unionize last year by registered nurses at Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital in Southwest Baltimore. Also last year, the union coalition representing some Kaiser Permanente health care workers — including 1,000 in the Baltimore area — negotiated a new contract following a three-day work stoppage in five states and Washington, D.C.

Workers have been excited by the labor movements happening across the country, said Kenya Campbell, president of AFT Maryland. The time is ripe for unionization efforts. Workers want to have a seat at the table and be heard.

“These are the workers that are making Maryland work,” Campbell said of AFT’s members. “These are the folks that are in the trenches every day, doing the work. Why not give them a voice?”