The Committee of Interns and Residents, an SEIU local representing 6,400 interns, residents and fellows across the University of California system, has filed a petition to create the largest single physician bargaining unit in the U.S.
The petition, filed with California's Public Employment Relations Board, seeks to unify the university's eight CIR chapters into a single, systemwide bargaining unit. The union announced the effort on Nov. 14.
In a news release shared with Becker's, CIR said the initiative, dubbed the "1UC" campaign, aims to address workload, staffing, access to mental healthcare, childcare resources and pay.
"Uniting as one unit will amplify our voices and our power," said Child Psychiatry Fellow Nekisa Haghighat, MD, in the release. "[W]e need to have safe, secure and sustainable working conditions. 1UC will allow us to do that."
The campaign has also been launched on social media to increase awareness for the effort.
UC shared the following statement with Becker's: "The University of California currently works with multiple labor unions, who collectively represent more than 137,000 employees across the UC system.
"The University values our employees' right to organize, and respects that there is support among medical residents to form a single bargaining unit to represent them. The university's physician trainees are instrumental to improving the health of patients and communities and advancing the health of Californians. We look forward to working with CIR/SEIU on this transition."