Medical residents and fellows at University of Chicago Medicine voted to unionize, making it the third teaching hospital in Chicago to organize, seeking fair pay.
In a vote Monday, 98% of voters at UChicago moved in favor of representation by the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR/SEIU). CIR/SEIU will represent more than 1,000 residents.
Residents at UChicago are the latest to organize, following in the footsteps of their peers at the University of Illinois Chicago, who unionized in 2021, and Northwestern Medicine this year.
“While we love our jobs and caring for our patients, we do not have an endless supply of stamina and capacity. We are human beings who must have our basic needs met,” said Dr. Aisha Amuda, a fourth-year resident in internal medicine and pediatrics. “We are now in a position to advocate for necessary improvements to our working conditions that directly impact the quality of care our patients receive.”
Residents are looking to negotiate a contract with fair pay, improved working conditions and care standards.
CIR/SEIU said residents regularly work 80-hour weeks but struggle to make ends meet and often experience workplace burnout.
“My colleagues and I chose UChicago because we wanted to care for this community,” said Dr. Kalkidan Aseged, a first-year resident in emergency medicine. “As physicians, our first commitment is to our patients. Having a strong voice helps us advocate more effectively for their needs, as well as for our own well-being.”
In January, Northwestern’s medical residents and fellows overwhelmingly voted to unionize after a yearslong effort. Interns, residents, chief residents and fellows at the McGaw Medical Center voted 794-148 in favor of union representation, an NLRB spokesperson told the Sun-Times.
The Service Employees International Union’s Committee of Interns and Residents, which represents the Northwestern staffers and 30,000 other medical fellows nationwide, called the election a “landslide victory” for the employees, who often work more than 80 hours per week, according to a statement from the union. The group also said McGaw’s staff was now the largest resident physician union in the Midwest.
