UC doctors begin effort to unionize nearly 10,000 employees

A group of doctors working for the University of California system has announced plans to unionize more than 10,000 doctors, the largest such effort for attending doctors in U.S. history, according to the group.

The campaign, called UC Doctors United, launched in front of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center on Tuesday afternoon, calling for "a strong voice in patient care, safety, staffing, workloads, medical education, research and the decisions affecting their profession."

"I can't [overstate] the emergency at hand here," said Committee of Interns and Residents President, Dr. Trina Van. "We are simply asking for fair compensation across specialties, sustainable workloads and safe working conditions to reduce the moral injury that happens when we care for patients, our community, in this very broken system."

UC Doctors United is partnering with CIR/SEIU, which represents almost 6,500 interns, residents, and fellows within the UC system. CIR/SEIU recently reached a tentative agreement with UC Health that includes an 18% salary increase and workflow-related improvements.

"As doctors, our working conditions are our patients' care conditions. We are fed up with a corporatized healthcare system that leaves us powerless, overworked, and disrespected. We're fighting to improve our healthcare system from the inside," said Dr. Hannah Spungen, an Emergency Medicine Physician at UCLA.  "It's time to set our own priorities and advocate for ourselves, protect our colleagues, and provide the best care possible."  

In a statement, UC said it "deeply values" its physicians and other health care professionals.

"We have taken and will continue to take concerns about workload, staffing, workplace safety, and support seriously. UC Health locations continually assess staffing, recruitment, security practices and workplace needs, recognizing that conditions vary across specialties, departments and care settings," the statement reads. "We remain committed to listening to physicians and clinical faculty, addressing concerns and continuously improving the experience of the people who make UC Health's clinical, educational and research missions possible."

Meanwhile, doctors on Tuesday said the only path forward for providing the best care for their patients was to do so as a union.

"I concluded that the only chance that we as physicians have to address this truly deficient patient care is to unionize ourselves," said Dr. Jake Lentz. "Hospital leadership's response has been years of reassurance that things will get better."

It's not yet known when a ratification vote will take place.