2000 to 2024 Saw Rise in Physician Union Petitions
MONDAY, Dec. 23, 2024 -- The number of union petitions with physicians in the bargaining units filed and certified increased in 2023 to May 2024, according to a research letter published online Dec. 18 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Hayden Rooke-Ley, J.D., from the Brown University School of Public Health in Providence, Rhode Island, and colleagues examined trends in unionization among attending physicians (not trainees) and the characteristics and motivations for these unions. The analysis included National Labor Relations Board petitions to form a union from 2000 through May 2024.
The researchers found 77 union petitions were filed with physician members (44 in 2000-2022 and 33 in 2023-2024), representing 7,064 individuals (3,541 in 2000-2022 and 3,523 in 2023-2024). When excluding petitions that had yet to have a disposition, overall, 41 of 66 (62 percent) were certified. The size of the bargaining unit ranged from four to 560 employees (mean, 93; median, 45). One-third of the unions (34 percent) were exclusively physicians and doctors of osteopathy, while 40 percent were composed of physicians and advanced practice clinicians and 26 percent represented a broader coalition, including nurses and administrative personnel. Forty-three of the 77 petitions were concentrated in California, Oregon, and Washington. Nearly half (49 percent) of petitions were filed against hospitals, 38 percent against community health centers, and 13 percent against nonhospital corporate owners. Press reports for the 33 petitions in 2023 to 2024 documented noncompensation concerns as motivators, including working conditions (85 percent), lack of voice in management (81 percent), and patient care concerns (54 percent), while only one petition cited financial compensation.
"Collective bargaining agreements from recent unionization efforts will provide early indications of whether collective bargaining achieved the unionization objectives," the authors write.
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