Radiology residents and fellows at Chicago-based McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University have voted to unionize in a “landslide” election, those involved announced Tuesday.
About 84% of participants casted ballots in favor of the decision to join the Committee of Interns and Residents, which is also known as CIR-SEIU. The organization said the almost 1,300 new physician members represent the “largest group of house staff in the Midwest to unionize.”
CIR-SEIU estimated Tuesday that the tally includes 75 residents and fellows in radiology and radiation oncology. Physicians are regularly being forced to work over 80 hours per week at Northwestern facilities while collecting inadequate compensation, organizers said.
“We are proud to be able to serve our community at one of the state’s top hospitals, but Northwestern’s reputation isn’t enough,” James Hammock, MD, a first-year psychiatry resident, said in a Jan. 30 announcement from the union. “Having a seat at the table means we can advocate for fair pay and improvements to our working conditions, allowing us to dedicate ourselves fully to our training and to providing the highest quality of care to our patients.”
Residents held a victory celebration after the vote on Monday, joined by state Sen. Robert Peters. Their decision follows 800 residents at the University of Illinois Chicago choosing to unionize in 2021. CIR is a local branch of the Service Employees International Union, which said it now represents over 30,000 physicians and fellows in the U.S. across 11 states.
McGaw Medical Center, where the members work, said it sought to ensure that residents participated in a fair election.
“We respect this outcome and the decision of our residents and fellows,” the organization said in a statement. “We remain committed to them, and to providing medical training that enhances the future of medicine.”
Residents across radiology and other medical specialties earned average compensation of $67,400 in 2023, according to a recent survey from Medscape. That’s compared to about $483,000 for experienced members of the specialty. Many residents are grappling with the dual challenges of a heavy debt load and poor financial literacy, a different survey found.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.