Medical residents employed by three Care New England hospitals voted Wednesday to unionize with Service Employees International Union’s Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR-SEIU).
Residents at Kent Hospital won their union election with 72.5% of the vote, 74-28. At Women and Infants they won their union election 40-8, or 83% of the vote. Finally, Butler residents won with 92% of the vote, 33-3. CIR-SEIU now represents about 230 residents at these hospitals, whether they voted for the union or not.
Residents organized on a platform of wages and benefits that more fairly reflect the fact that they can sometimes work 80 hours in a single week. The starting salaries at those hospitals, according to a spokesperson from CIR-SEIU, are $70,555 at Butler, $63,985 at Kent, and $66,978 at Women & Infants. Other residents who have organized with CIR-SEIU have seen their salaries rise by more $15,000 after getting a first contract under a new union.
In a press release from the union, third-year psychiatry resident Dr. Natalie Duke said that improving wages will improve residents’ standards of care.
“As a psychiatrist, I see the impact of financial stress on our patients, and so we understand that when we experience that stress, it’s harder to be present with our patients and it makes it harder to convince medical students that they should come here,” she said. “The burden is particularly heavy for first-year doctors.”
Senior PR Director for Care New England Raina Smith also emailed a statement to The Public’s Radio, saying the company planned to “work in good faith with the Committee of Interns and Residents to ensure these talented professionals have a positive learning experience and continue to provide outstanding care.”
Residents from these hospitals organized for the past three years alongside their colleagues at Rhode Island Hospital, who won their election last week — the first of its kind in Rhode Island. However, the National Labor Relations Board ruled the residents had to split into different organizing units based on which hospital they worked for, which is why the elections were held separately. The vast majority of these residents are enrolled in a medical residency program at Brown — 32 of them are enrolled elsewhere.
The Service Employees International Union now represents more than 1,000 medical residents at those four hospitals.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with a statement from Care New England.
