Physician residents reach deal with Los Angeles County, averting strike

Dive Brief:

Physician residents and interns at Los Angeles County hospitals reached a tentative agreement with the county on new contract terms on Sunday, averting a two-day strike initially slated to begin June 13, according to a release from the union.
The union gave the county official notice of plans to strike on June 2. The two sides met again the next day and the county presented salary and benefit proposals in line with resident demands, according to the release.
The strike would have been a first among physician residents represented by the Committee of Interns and Residents, a local of Service Employees International Union, since 1990, according to the union.

Dive Insight:

The deal comes after months of stalled bargaining and a strike vote that 99% of members voted in favor of, according to the union.

Resident interns and physicians represented by CIR-SEIU sought better wages amid rising inflation and high costs of living in the region.

While exact terms of the agreement haven’t been released, the union said it contains “significant material gains” for resident physicians. Union members must vote to ratify the contract.

The labor discord is one of several recent disputes in California, where unions representing healthcare workers have been especially active as more contracts expire and staff see an opportunity to negotiate their working conditions.

About 8,000 nurses at 15 Sutter facilities in Northern California waged a one-day strike in April. Nearly 5,000 nurses went on strike that same month at two Stanford hospitals and, shortly after, over 1,000 Stanford residents and fellow physicians won a union election for representation by CIR-SEIU.

In Los Angeles, hundreds of healthcare workers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center also walked off the job in May amid efforts to reach a new contract with management.

The labor disputes come as hospital systems across the country deal with heightened turnover and staffing shortages driven by the coronavirus pandemic.

Los Angeles County officials didn’t respond to requests for comment.