Subject: The Healthcare Industry Checkup: Unions Have the Fever for Physicians And Nursing Care Workers Alike: LRI INK

June 16, 2022

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The Healthcare Industry Checkup: Unions Have the Fever for Physicians And Nursing Care Workers Alike

by Kimberly Ricci

We recently told you about this industry’s abrupt change in fortunes as pandemic concerns aren’t yet a thing of the past as federal Covid-19 funding dries up at hospitals across the U.S. The rising cost of living will surely contribute to the ongoing chess game between healthcare systems and unions, the latter of which isn’t above using staffing shortages, budget shortfalls, and other stressors to their advantage.

 

Undoubtedly, the healthcare industry finds itself pushed to the brink with no immediate solutions in sight. Union leaders are eager to confront worker frustrations with promises of negotiations for higher pay, increased benefits, and other perks. This is happening at all levels of the healthcare labor force across the U.S., as recent developments confirm, beginning with doctors continuing to head into the union house and much more:

  • Los Angeles County: Physician residents began to sound the alarm on their 80-hour workweeks and Covid-related burnout that’s exacerbated by high workloads and lower pay rates than their fully-fledged, independently practicing physician counterparts. The Committee of Interns and Residents (an arm of the SEIU) now represents 1,300 physician residents (who voted to strike with more developments to come) from three of Los Angeles’ public hospitals.

  • New York City: Mount Sinai postdoctoral fellows (who perform research duties for the Icahn School of Medicine) began to organize under the UAW while citing rising housing and childcare costs and asking for stipends and wage relief.

  • Iowa: After the SEIU threatened a rally by University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics staffers, the healthcare system announced 4% raises (up from the preexisting 1.3%) that appear to be across the board.

  • Sacramento, California: Nursing care workers (and home health care aides) marched (by the hundreds) near the state capitol while demanding that the state fund a quality-standards board proposed by the SEIU.

  • Pennsylvania: An SEIU informational picket not only included nursing home staffers from The Gardens at Wyoming Valley facility but also thousands of workers from other long-term care facilities across the state. And at a Harrisburg facility, SEIU-represented workers rallied for increased facilities funding (they’re asking for hundreds of millions in Medicaid funds) to increase staffing difficulties and ward off what they say has been a long-brewing retirement home crisis.

  • Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota: Three mental health care facilities saw workers strike for greater safety guidelines in the workplace, including protections against violent patients and the dangers presented by understaffed wards.

  • Maine: Workers at two teen-focused mental health treatment centers petitioned for a vote (while citing poor working conditions and low pay) to join the SEIU.

 

Healthcare systems face numerous complications while working to overcome workforce burnout and limited resources. Look for unions to continue maneuvering for windows of opportunity to engage frontline workers, who seek strong leadership that prioritizes their concerns about safety, pay, and more.

 

If you are interested in what we’ve recently been doing to help improve healthcare workplaces, give us a call (800-888-9115).

Save the date!  Another virtual Approachable Leadership open workshop is on the way.  

The three sessions for the workshop are June 28, 29, and 30, starting at 1pm CST each day. 

 

If you’ve hosted the workshop over the last year or so and have new leaders who have not yet experienced the workshop, this is a great opportunity for them to catch up. The cost is $249 per leader. 

If you are considering introducing this Workshop to your team for the first time and would like to give it a test run, please email Stephanie for a complimentary seat. We would love to see you there!

 

Here’s the link for new leaders to enroll: Click Here, and here’s Stephanie’s email:  somalley@lrionline.com

Links

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Union Bailout

 

NLRB Denies Amazon's Ask To Close Hearing To Public

https://lri.link/3NM1gUe

 

NLRB GC Advocates For Limiting Employer's Private Property Rights 

https://lri.link/3O4ljge

 

The Lie That Helped Kill the Labor Movement 

https://lri.link/3aFAyhc

 

Judge Rules in Favor Of Home Depot In BLM Workers' Rights Complaint 

https://lri.link/3MPR4Zp


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Liz Schuler Wins Formal AFL-CIO Vote

https://lri.link/3mL64NA


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Union Growth Will Not Ride On Amending The NLRA

https://lri.link/3zBG2nF

 

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Organizing

 

Trader Joe's Workers In Massachusetts File To Create Chain’s First Union

https://lri.link/3aTiNva

 

Hotel Workers Wanted Union Gone, Bipartisan NLRB Panel Rules https://lri.link/3Qe5gyr

 

Bodo's Bagels Workers Vote Against Unionization

https://lri.link/3zwDHdG

 

Starbucks Union Says Howard Schultz Broke The Law During New York Times Interview

https://lri.link/3xLboXS

 

Workers Protest Starbucks' Plan To Close A Unionized Store 

https://lri.link/3O0jeC6

 

Starbucks Notches Legal Win In Battle Against Union Organizers

https://lri.link/3QjbooS

 

Staffers At Several NYC Studios Now Repped By Communications Workers Of America 

https://lri.link/3xkW8zf

 

Workers United, Communications Workers Of America Join Forces On Apple Retail

https://lri.link/3QiCuMY

 

Judge Dismisses Labor Board Bid For Injunction Against Starbucks Over Alleged Union-Busting

https://lri.link/3Hh4JHV

 

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Manufacturing

 

Seattle Teamsters’ Strike Length Was Its Undoing, Experts Say

https://lri.link/3mGfdao

 

UAW Board Moves To Boost Strike Pay For Workers

https://lri.link/3O4lUhY

 

Local UAW Says 'It Will Be A Fight' To Unionize New Battery Plant

https://lri.link/3aW1M3n 

 

Stellantis Plans Layoffs At Sterling Heights Stamping Plant In U.S.

https://lri.link/3b4xNX9 

           

Tesla Faces Demand For Union-Rights Proposal At Annual Meeting

https://lri.link/3mFwMao

 

Tesla And Elon Musk Have A Big Union Problem

https://lri.link/3Hcxkhz

 

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Tech/Media

 

Google Maps Contractors Get Return-to-Office Extension After Threatening to Strike

https://lri.link/3aPkSYV

 

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Labor Around The World

 

US Files 4th Labor Complaint On Mexican Workers' Rights

https://lri.link/3tww6YH

 

About Labor Relations INK

Labor Relations INK is published weekly and is edited by Labor Relations Institute, Inc. Feel free to pass this newsletter on to anyone you think might enjoy it. New subscribers can sign up by visiting here.


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Contributing editors for this issue: Phillip Wilson, Greg Kittinger, and Kimberly Ricci 


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About Labor Relations Institute

LRI exists to help our clients thrive and become extraordinary workplaces. We improve the lives of working people by strengthening relationships with their leaders and each other. For over 41 years LRI has led the labor and employee relations industry, driven by our core values and our proven process, the LRI Way.

 

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