Over 800 UB resident physicians will begin a four-day strike on Tuesday as labor contract negotiations to increase salaries and improve working conditions failed to reach an agreement.
The residents, represented by the Union of American Physicians and Dentists (UAPD), authorized the strike last month, accusing their employer, University Medical Resident Services P.C. (UMRS), of “bargaining in bad faith” during the year-long negotiations.
Physicians’ frustrations have been compounded by lack of communication from UMRS’ financial backers, including UB’s Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (JSMBS), Buffalo General Hospital and other hospitals in downtown Buffalo. UB has previously stated that they cannot be legally involved due to the National Labor Relations Board identifying UMRS as the negotiator of record.
In its most recent proposal sent to residents last Monday, UMRS increased residents’ salaries by 6.6% to 10.85% depending on the number of years post-graduation. The company also rejected UAPD’s bid to switch to a no-cost deductible health insurance plan, add a retirement plan and establish a contingency fund.
In a statement to The Spectrum, UMRS wrote that the proposed salary increase was “virtually the same as was proposed by the union.”
Dr. Ryan Hess, a fifth-year neurosurgery resident, said that the proposal is spreading out the numbers in “a very manipulative way” and that the change “makes almost no difference,” as physicians in their first three years are still “not getting substantial raises” compared to those in their last years of residency.
“The money is not being equitably distributed,” Dr. Hess said.
UB physicians’ labor attorney Robert Boreanaz called the proposal “incomplete.”
“We haven’t really figured out what their proposal is, because we don’t have the whole proposal,” Boreanaz said. “I’ve not even got a third of the proposal because it doesn’t include the health insurance. It doesn’t include the work conditions. And it doesn’t include the stipends and it’s just a ploy.”
Dr. Hess said that UMRS’ lawyers have “no idea what residency is.”
“It’s embarrassing — not for us — but I would be embarrassed to be those people because how are you going to sit there and say ‘We are your employer’ but know literally nothing about what our jobs are,” Dr. Hess said.
Offered during the bargaining session on Sept. 1, the residents’ counterproposal consisted of an additional $15 million in salary increases over three years. In an email to The Spectrum, UMRS said the counterproposal is “not fiscally responsible.”
“It fails to consider the critical role our local hospitals play in serving patients in our community,” the statement reads. “Additionally, it does not fully consider the tremendous value of the educational and training benefits provided to the residents by our hospitals and UB’s Office of Graduate Medical Education, which ensure residents and trainees develop the foundational clinical skills and knowledge required to successfully practice independently.”
JSMBS said they are “disappointed” that an agreement was not reached but is “encouraged that an offer has been made from the residents’ employer to provide the residents with a salary on par with 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 outstanding educational opportunities, training and experiences they need to become highly skilled physicians within the health care community,” the statement said.
Mylien Lai is the senior news editor and can be reached at mylien.lai@ubspectrum.com
Mylien Lai is the senior news editor at The Spectrum. Outside of getting lost in Buffalo, she enjoys practicing the piano and being a bean plant mom. She can be found at @my_my_my_myliennnn on Instagram.
