Docs Need Your Support.... STAT!

Clever use of medical jargon in the title, right?

Anyway, my 15 month old Pearl is walking now and I just haven't had time to get a bunch of posts up. This one in particular has been eating away at me, so while DVRed 'Sesame Street' is busy substituting for motherly love, I'll highlight this important info that's been sitting in my inbox.

In their efforts to unite and have their voices heard in the workplace, nearly 90% of the resident docs over at St. Barnabas Hospital have signed a petition to be recognized as a chapter of the Committee of Interns and Residents/SEIU Healthcare, a well-established union representing 13,000 across the country. Unfortunately the hospital is fighting the docs efforts to unionize and has hired a private law firm to represent it before the National Labor Relations Board.

So why have the McDreamys and McSteamys of St. Barnabas decided to organize in this way? Here's the most succinct answer straight from their website:

We decided to join CIR in response to low pay, poor benefits and the hospital’s inadequate support of the educational portion of the residency programs. We have all experienced a series of incidents that created an atmosphere of disrespect and penny-pinching. For example, the hospital recently began requiring that resident physicians, as “non-union employees,” pay for a portion of their health insurance premiums.

Oh, and by the way, while the docs are fighting to safeguard their health insurance and take steps to improve patient care, the top five executives at St. Barnabas have collected 35% raises from 2002 to 2007. This shit just wouldn't fly at Seattle Grace!

So now the Committee of Residents and Interns is reaching out to us, the community, for support. Please visit their website by clicking here. It has tons of information you can read to become more informed about the issues surrounding the docs' effort to unionize. Once you've got all the facts, you can click the 'Support the Residents' link to express your support.

For additional info, check out the Daily News' story from March by clicking here.

~ErLu