September 25, 2024
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice
Penn Medicine's residents and fellows were the first hospital 'house staff' to unionize in Pennsylvania. Now, they have reached a tentative contract agreement, which must be ratified.
The unionized resident physicians and fellows at Penn Medicine have secured a tentative contract agreement that includes wage increases, expanded parental leave and other benefits.
Last year, the vast majority of Penn Medicine's 1,400 residents and fellows voted to unionize under the Committee of Interns and Residents, becoming Pennsylvania's first union of hospital "house staff" workers. Now, they have become the first residents and fellows in the state to hammer out a collective bargaining agreement, though it still must be ratified. A vote is expected to be completed Sunday.
The deal increases the workers' pay by 24% to 28%, provides eight weeks of parental leave and allows them to be reimbursed for taking rideshares home after long shifts, the union said. It also ensures they have appropriate personal protective equipment.
Penn's residents regularly work 80 hours a week, often picking up extra shifts without pay, and struggle to make ends meet, according to the union. The workers sought to secure a contract that would enable them to perform their jobs well without sacrificing their "mental, physical or financial well-being."
"My colleagues and I chose medicine because guiding our patients through health and illness is both an honor and a privilege, but we'd had enough of being dehumanized by a system that was pushing us to burnout, hindering our ability to provide the best care," Dr. Spenser Chen, a Penn resident in medicine and pediatrics, said in a statement. "With our first contract, the improvements we've secured will lead to better healing environments for our patients."
Penn did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the agreement.
"I felt a wave of relief when Penn's representatives finally came to the table with a reasonable offer," said Dr. Ianto Xi, a radiology resident at Penn Hospital. "I can relax now, knowing that I can take care of my family while working to take care of my patients."
