Union Vote at UCSF-Fresno

From the Fresno Bee: An overwhelming majority of UCSF Fresno interns, residents and fellow physicians voted to unionize after seeing their program benefits being slashed and the number of residency slots being decreased — actions they say took place in the midst of the pandemic, according to a Monday news release.

The union authorization cards to join the Committee of Interns and Residents/SEIU were filed with the California Public Employment Relations Board, which is expected to process the request and certify the union in the next few weeks, according to the release.

The vote was Friday. Certification usually takes 30 days, said Tricia Piper-Bennett, with a public relations firm representing the Committee of Interns and Residents. Piper-Bennett said there’s a little over 300 members in this UCSF Fresno group seeking to unionize...

This group will join about 6,000 other UC resident physicians who have unionized in recent years in order to improve their working conditions and patient care, according to the release.

The UCSF Fresno resident-led efforts started as they began to see their benefits being cut back in the midst of the pandemic. Residency slots were reduced, according to the release.

UCSF Fresno referred questions to the UC Office of the President. Erika Cervantes, a spokeswoman with the UC Office of the President, would only provide a brief statement on Monday, and wasn’t able to answer additional questions.

“The University of California values its resident physicians and their many contributions to UC,” she said in the statement to The Bee. “UC neither encourages nor discourages unionization. UC supports employees’ right to make an informed decision and choose for themselves.”

Community Regional Medical Center is one of the several sites for the UCSF Fresno training rotations, said Michelle Von Tersch, senior vice president for communications and legislative affairs for Community Health System.

“While Community doesn’t control the number of residency slots, we don’t believe the overall number has decreased,” she said in a statement to The Bee. “Some of the residents’ time at Community has shifted to other locations such as Family HealthCare Network, Veteran’s Administration and Kaiser Permanente Hospital.” ...

Full story at https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article251953848.html