Eight percent, or about 72,000, of physicians are unionized, and the number of official union drives among private-sector physicians has leaped in the past two years, Medscape reported Dec. 19.
Here are six things to know:
1. The study, published Dec. 18 in JAMA, analyzed data from the National Labor Relations Board about union drives by potential bargaining units that included physicians. The study only looked at private-sector unions and did not include unions from public institutions.
2. From 2000 to 2022, 44 union petitions were filed, which amounts to about 0 to 6 each year. The number skyrocketed to 21 union drives in 2023 and 12 in the first five months of 2024. Researchers told Medscape that the boom in unionization could be due to declining morale and increased corporate employment of physicians.
3. If the drives from the last two years succeed, unions will represent 3,523 new physicians — almost equivalent to the 3,541 physicians who sought unionization in the previous 22 years.
4. Of 66 unionization efforts between 2000 and2024, 62% were certified. They were most common at hospitals (49%), community health centers (38%), and nonhospital corporate owners (13%).
5. The study found that union supporters were motivated by working conditions (85%), lack of voice in management (81%), patient care concerns (54%), and pay (4%).
6. A 2024 study found that unionized residents at general surgery programs did not have improved well-being or benefits.
"It is critical to study the outcomes of those who unionized to ensure that the reasons for unionizing were realized over time," study co-author Karl Bilimoria, MD, chair of surgery at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, told Medscape. "The unintended consequences of unionization must be examined along with the potential improvements."