An Important Letter from the UNM/CIR Organizing Committee, 12/12/06
Dear UNM Residents and Fellows:
We are writing in response to the letter the Administration recently sent us via email regarding our efforts to form a union. We believe that many of the questions raised in that letter are based on misconceptions about the Committee of Interns & Residents, the resident union that we have asked to represent us. We hope this will clarify some of the points made by the UNM SOM and also some of what we hope to achieve by unionizing.
The CIR chapter we hope to form at UNM will be our own. We are the union and decisions will be made democratically with representation from all departments. The processes involved in negotiating our contract will be open to participation from all UNM housestaff. Remember that we initially came together to form a union because residents’ needs were not being addressed at our institution. Please contact any one of the residents who are actively involved if you have questions. Also, we encourage you to contact other residents at CIR-represented hospitals with questions and concerns about what it means to unionize. You can reach other residents in CIR at www.unmcir.org.
1. The Hospital Administration claims that relationships will change once we vote to join CIR, that the new relationship would be between CIR and UNM—not the Residents and the School of Medicine, and that it would add more layers of bureaucracy.
What is certain to change is that housestaff will have the legal status to bargain over salary and working conditions. For the first time at UNM, residents will have a seat at the table with the Administration to negotiate and make improvements for ourselves and our patients. The Administration’s email claims that a new relationship between CIR and UNM will replace the current relationship between residents and the School of Medicine. We note that residents are currently UNM employees, paid by UNM. The School of Medicine is not independently determining housestaff salary and benefits, as the SOM itself has reminded us in the past when they had to explain why they couldn’t increase housestaff salaries or make other changes without agreement from the University, the Hospital, the Regents -- in other words, the other layers of the bureaucracy that already exist. What will change is that we will have an organization and staff to independently navigate the already existing layers of bureaucracy on behalf of ourselves and our patients.
What doesn’t change is that individual residents will still have the ability to advocate for ourselves and try to resolve problems or issues informally within our departments. While the union is a great help to individual residents, no one would be forced to act through our CIR chapter on any issue that can be currently resolved by an individual.
2. The Administration says that CIR salary comparisons are misleading; that they compare New Mexico with more expensive areas of the country; that UNM has limited resources; that disputes could go to arbitration; and that collective bargaining agreements have to be funded by the Regents, who are beyond the control of either SOM or CIR.
Although most public hospitals in the United States have limited resources, CIR is still able to negotiate good contracts, make sure money is being spent properly and lobby to increase state funding. Residents in CIR hospitals have a long track record of negotiating and winning improvements in salaries and working conditions. Case in point: Residents at the University of Miami teaching hospital, Jackson Memorial, voted to join CIR in the mid-1990s to address issues like low salary. Their first 3-year CIR contract awarded residents 25% in salary increases over three years, specifically allowing them to catch-up and address six previous years of no salary increases. That contract had to be approved by the Board of Public Health Trustees and then by the Dade County Commissioners. Residents lobbied both of those bodies and won approval of their contact.
3. The Administration says that they are not obligated to negotiate over a Patient Care Fund, that the fund would have to be approved by the Regents, and that there may be legal impediments to the establishment of such a fund.
Improving patient care at UNM is an important part of why we are coming together to form a union. Establishing a patient care fund through contract negotiations has been a highly effective method for residents to make lasting improvements in CIR-represented hospitals. Hospital administrations have come to realize that resident input on patient care expenditures is a valuable resource for the hospital. We hope that UNM will recognize the value of a patient care fund as well. As for the specifics of New Mexico law, as in other states, we can simply tailor a fund to fit the appropriate guidelines of the law.
4. The Administration raises questions about our ability to influence local and state health care policies.
Improving patient care and the conditions of resident life are very important parts of CIR’s mission. Throughout the years CIR residents have made a real impact on health care policies. This is because elected officials, policy analysts, and the public at large want to hear what resident physicians on the front line of patient care have to say about making the healthcare system better. Many of us at UNM are interested in making changes to improve health care in New Mexico, but have found it difficult to affect change as individuals. Our voice will be most powerful when we are organized as a union.
For the record, CIR was a founding member of the coalition to pass Measure A in Alameda County, CA, which increased county sales taxes to fund county health services, as well as a similar measure in Los Angeles County, CA. In New York, CIR was one of two founding members of a coalition currently working to protect safety net hospitals threatened by closure by the state government. The CIR members to whom we have spoken have worked hard on their many successes in improving health care.
5. The Administration raises doubts about the feasibility of maintaining the extra perks and departmental differences that are important to many of us. They cite what unions “traditionally” do to eliminate differences between departments.
A union of resident physicians is not a “traditional” union by most measures. The reality within CIR chapters displays that extra department-specific perks are not only preserved after the vote to join CIR, but they are encouraged. That is why we have chosen to organize with a union that is exclusively for housestaff, and therefore understands the intricacies of our unique situation. Some CIR chapters even have strong contract language ensuring that past practices will be maintained. More importantly, UNM housestaff in every department have spoken up in favor of departmental discretion that is able to go above and beyond hospital-wide benefits. We will set our own agenda as a CIR chapter, and none of us want to eliminate benefits for anyone.
6. The Administration asks why a previous CIR FAQ makes no mention of New Mexico state law which bars public employees from striking.
The UNM/CIR Organizing Committee and the CIR staff who have been working with us have been open and direct about the fact that striking would not be an option at UNM because as public employees we are prohibited from striking under any circumstance. The question is moot. We would rather spend our time trying to work collaboratively with the Administration to improve patient care and resident quality of life.
Your Colleagues from the UNM/CIR Housestaff Organizing Committee,
Amil Axlerod, Cardiology; Mick Bauman, Emergency Medicine; Mike Bryan, Surgery; Elizabeth Burpee, Internal Medicine; Ben Buxton, Family Practice; Jay Buys, Anesthesia; Casey Dellabarca, Anesthesia; Michelle Diaz, OB/GYN; Gilbert Esser, Psychiatry; Jen Fitzpatrick, Orthopaedics; Kevin Giles, Anesthesia; Nathan Goldfein, Internal Medicine; Conrad Hamilton, Surgery; John Huffer, Urology; John Ingle, Otolaryngology; Vanessa Jacobson, Family Practice; Brian Johnson, Family Practice; Charles Joseph, Internal Medicine; Nevra King, Neurosurgery; Uli Lebkuechner, OB/GYN; Lana Melendres, Internal Medicine; Katria Mertz, OB/GYN; Patrick Moran, Family Practice; Sarah Morgan-Edwards, Emergency Medicine; Chris Murphy, Pulmonary/Critical Care; Mohammed Othman, Internal Medicine; Mike Rankin, Pediatrics; Pejvak Salehi, Internal Medicine; Tom Shiffler, Internal Medicine; Jose Sterling, Surgery; Alejandro Tabon, Nuerology; Eli Torgeson, Anesthesia; Libby Watch, Surgery; Troy Watson, Family Practice; Will Wheir, Radiology; Mehdi Yazdanpanah, Psychiatry; Noah Zuker, Surgery