Resident physicians vote on whether to strike at 3 LA County hospitals

LOS ANGELES (CNS) — The results of a strike authorization vote by members of the union representing resident physicians and interns at three Los Angeles County hospitals had yet to be announced Tuesday morning.

The Committee of Interns and Residents, part of the Service Employees International Union and commonly referred to as CIR/SEIU, represents more than 1,300 resident physicians and fellows at LAC+USC Medical Center, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Outpatient Center.

The strike authorization vote, prompted by stalled contract talks with County officials, began May 16 and ended Monday.

If approved, the physicians and interns would join “tens of thousands of other LA County employees who have exhausted their options as the County continues to engage in surface bargaining in the workers’ contract negotiations,” union officials said in a statement as voting began.

“If they ultimately go on strike, the physicians would be the first in their union to do so (in) 32 years, which demonstrates the seriousness of this contract and the workers’ frustration with the County’s bad-faith conduct.”

The union’s most recent contract expired on Sept. 30, 2021 and negotiators are asking for a 7% raise as part of a new agreement. In a statement to the media, the L.A. County Chief Executive Office, which handles contract negotiations, expressed optimism that a strike can be avoided and said services to the public are expected to continue without interruption.

“Negotiations are ongoing and the County remains hopeful of reaching a fair and fiscally responsible contract,” the statement said. “The pending authorization vote by the Committee of Interns and Residents is not a strike and services to the public are continuing without interruption.”

Residents physicians, or interns, are considered doctors in training who have graduated from medical school and gain on-the-job experience while providing medical treatment and other services to patients. Salaries at Los County facilities generally range from $50,000 to $65,000 a year.

But many say they have been working long hours, especially as hospitals have at times been overrun with COVID-19 patients and faced with staffing shortages due to the pandemic.

“We’re doctors, and people see us with white coats, so they think we make what you would think a doctor makes,” Camila Alvarado, a second-year family resident at Harbor UCLA, said during a news conference earlier this month. “But in residency, if you divide by the number of hours we work, which is about 80 hours a week, we actually make about minimum wage, if not less than minimum wage.”