Physician union activity has been high since the beginning of 2025.
Here are five union updates since Jan. 7, as reported by Becker's:
1. NYC Health + Hospitals physicians reached a tentative agreement with system management after postponing their previously planned strike. More than 2,500 attending physicians at the system had been negotiating a new contract since September 2023, according to a Jan. 13 news release from Doctors Council-Service Employees International Union shared with Becker's.
The agreement includes base salary increases, recognition bonuses based on years of service and time worked on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic, retention bonuses for designated specialists, restoration of cuts to sick leave hours and a $12 million flexible physician compensation.
2. Resident physicians and fellows at Philadelphia-based Temple University Hospital voted to join the Committee of Interns and Residents, an affiliate of the SEIU.
3. Resident physicians and fellows at Einstein Health Network, part of Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health, voted 356-35 to join the Committee of Interns and Residents. Grace Cho, MD, a psychiatry resident at Einstein, said residents and fellows will now work to secure a "fair contract," according to PhillyVoice, citing a union news release.
4. Resident physicians in Northern California reached a tentative labor contract with Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente Jan. 6. The agreement covers about 470 resident physicians who are members of the Committee of Interns and Residents, which is affiliated with the SEIU.
5. Nearly 5,000 employees, including nurses, physicians, nurse practitioners, physician associates and nurse midwives, began an open-ended strike Jan. 10 at Providence hospitals and clinics across Oregon. The walkout is estimated to be the largest healthcare strike in the state's history.