Members of the Committee of Interns and Residents have reached a tentative deal with management, averting a planned strike at Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West in New York City.
The union represents 500 resident physicians and fellows at the facilities, according to a news release from CIR, a local of the Service Employees International Union. Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West are part of the Mount Sinai Health System, which includes more than 7,200 physicians total, according to its website.
Union members voted to authorize a strike in May, and they had planned to begin a five-day strike June 13. With the new tentative agreement, the strike is averted.
The three-year tentative contract includes a pay increase of 7 percent retroactive to March, 6 percent in March 2024, and another 5 percent in 2025, according to a union statement shared with Becker's. The union said it also includes a ratification bonus of $2,000, access to flex spending starting early 2024 and increases in meal money. Additionally, it includes Juneteenth as a holiday and six weeks of protected Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education leave during residency, and it preserves retroactive/back pay for the resident physicians graduating June 30.
"The doctors say this brings them closer than they have ever been to addressing the ongoing pay inequity issues they've experienced at Mount Sinai, even though they didn't reach full parity. They will be reporting to work [June 13]," the union statement says.
Hospital leaders praised the reaching of a tentative deal.
"We are eager now to focus on celebrating the remarkable achievements of our valued residents as they approach graduation and the next chapters of their training," Arthur Gianelli, president of Mount Sinai Morningside, and Evan Flatow, MD, president of Mount Sinai West, wrote in a June 12 letter to faculty, staff, trainees and students.
"Thank you to every member of the Mount Sinai community for your continued professionalism and dedication to excellent patient care."
The union and management began negotiating a new labor contract in January.