Members of the Committee of Interns and Residents are set to begin a three-day strike this month at Jamaica and Flushing hospitals in New York City if they are unable to reach a contract agreement with leadership.
The union represents about 300 physicians, according to an April 26 union news release. The hospitals are part of MediSys Health Network.
Union members voted to authorize a strike in April. The Committee of Interns and Residents and hospitals began negotiating a new contract months ago, according to the union release. A union spokesperson told Becker's that workers have submitted a notice to hold a three-day strike if an agreement is not reached.
"They are still currently in negotiations and are hoping to avoid a strike. However, if they are unable to reach an agreement, the resident doctors will be going on strike starting May 15," the spokesperson said.
"At MediSys, residents are demanding adequate resources they need to limit patient loads and enforceable processes to limit 'out-of-title' work. Residents are also demanding 18 percent salary increases over the life of the contract."
A hospital spokesperson shared the following statement with Becker's May 4: "Economically, Jamaica and Flushing Hospitals have proposed an 18 percent increase over 3 years to the Committee of Interns and Residents, which is the same generous raise offered and accepted by other unions we recently negotiated with, including 1199 healthcare workers union and the New York State Nurses Association.
To address non-economic issues, we presented our residents with the exact same offer that CIR residents from multiple other area hospitals have accepted in recent weeks.
The day before yesterday's scheduled bargaining session we notified CIR that we were prepared to negotiate as long as it took to reach a settlement, but to our dismay, CIR unexpectedly left the bargaining table at 8 p.m."
If a strike occurs, it would come on the heels of a three-day strike by thousands of New York State Nurses Association members at the New York City hospitals. The strike began Jan. 9 and ended Jan. 12.