UB doctors begin strike on Tuesday

More than 800 UB resident doctors will begin a four-day strike on Tuesday after labor contract negotiations aimed at increasing wages and improving working conditions failed to reach an agreement.

Residents, represented by the Union of American Physicians and Dentists (UAPD), authorized the strike last monthaccusing their employer, University Medical Resident Services PC (UMRS), of “negotiating in bad faith” during the year-long negotiations.

The doctors’ frustrations have been compounded by a lack of communication from UMRS’s funders, including UB’s Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (JSMBS), Buffalo General Hospital and other downtown Buffalo hospitals. previously stated that they could not be legally involved due to the fact that the National Labor Relations Board has identified UMRS as the official negotiator.

In his most recent proposal sent to residents Last Monday, UMRS increased residents’ salaries by 6.6% to 10.85% based on the number of years after graduation. The company also rejected UAPD’s proposal to move to a no-deductible health insurance plan, add a pension plan and create a contingency fund.

In a statement to The spectrumThe UMRS wrote that the proposed wage increase was “virtually the same as that proposed by the union.”

Dr. Ryan Hess, a fifth-year neurosurgery resident, said the proposal distributes the numbers in a “very manipulative way” and that the change “makes almost no difference” because physicians in their first three years “still aren’t getting substantial raises” compared to those in their final years of residency.

“The money is not distributed fairly,” Dr. Hess said.

UB doctors’ labor attorney Robert Boreanaz called the proposal “incomplete.”

“We haven’t really understood what their proposal is yet because we don’t have the full proposal,” Boreanaz said. “I don’t even have a third of the proposal because it doesn’t include health insurance. It doesn’t include work conditions. It doesn’t include benefits and it’s just a gimmick.”

Dr. Hess said UMRS lawyers had “no idea what residency is.”

“It’s embarrassing – not for us – but I would be embarrassed to be those people, because how can you sit there and say, ‘We’re your employer,’ and literally know nothing about what our jobs are,” Dr. Hess said.

The residents’ counter-proposal, presented at the September 1 bargaining session, consisted of an additional $15 million wage increase over three years. In an email to The spectrumThe UMRS said the counter-proposal was “not fiscally responsible.”

“It ignores the critical role our local hospitals play in caring for patients in our community,” the statement reads. “Further, it fails to fully recognize the enormous value of the educational and training benefits provided to residents by our hospitals and the UB Office of Graduate Medical Education, which ensure that residents and fellows develop the clinical skills and foundational knowledge needed to practice successfully independently.”

JSMBS said they were “disappointed” that a deal was not reached, but were “encouraged that an offer was made by the residents’ employer to provide the residents with a salary comparable to their peers at upstate hospitals” in a statement emailed to The spectrum.

“As negotiations continue, we remain committed to supporting residents and providing them with the educational opportunities, training and exceptional experiences they need to become highly qualified physicians within the health care community,” the statement said.

Mylien Lai is the News Editor and can be contacted at [email protected]

MYLIEN LAI

Mylien Lai is the news editor at The spectrum. Outside of her walks in Buffalo, she enjoys playing the piano and being a mom to her bean plants. You can find her on Instagram at @my_my_my_myliennnn.

Photo: Courtesy of UB Athletics

Photo: Courtesy of UB Athletics