Earlier this week, we covered the overall uptick in petitions for union votes. That roundup included news of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) poaching doctors, and there’s no shortage of union activity elsewhere in the healthcare realm.
Let’s hop right into the barrel.
The Boston-headquartered Mass General Brigham Healthcare is seeing a spectrum of developments:
For acute patient care, this healthcare system has been expanding its “hospital at home” care model, including occupancy rates and patient preferences. The associated at-home technology began to gain some steam during the pandemic and is now leading to the development of generative AI assistants designed to work in conjunction with human clinicians.
A leading doctor in the Mass General Brigham system predicts hospital-at-home could grow exponentially within five years, eventually adding up to 15% of total inpatient capacity. As proof of the healthcare system’s investment in this realm, Mass General Brigham hired its first president of the hospital-at-home program.
Are unions circling hospital-at-home workers? You know it.
Mass General Brigham hospital-at-home nurses voted to unionize last week. This follows semi-related news: the system’s non-hospital-at-home attending physicians voted to join the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees while forming the Salem Hospital Physicians Union.
A bevy of strike-related healthcare news is now coming your way:
- A federal arbitrator directed the SEIU to pay $6.26 million in damages over an “unlawful strike” violating the parties’ collective bargaining agreements. The damages include compensation for the hospital being forced to hire temporary workers at premium/traveling rates during the 10-day 2020 strike at an HCA Healthcare facility in Riverside, California.
- The Mayo Clinic saw 1,600 unionized workers, including clinical techs, janitors, and personal care attendants, rally for $20+ hourly wages in Rochester, Minnesota. SEIU Healthcare members also voted to cancel a “no strike” pledge that has stood intact for 50 years within the Mayo Clinic hospital system.
- SEIU Healthcare Illinois is also pushing for a $20 minimum wage for all home care workers, regardless of skill set or certification level.
- The Oregon Nurses Association put 3,000 nurses on a three-day strike at six Providence hospital systems throughout the state.
- National Nurses United will soon hold rallies to protest HCA contract proposals in Kansas City, Orlando, and El Paso and against VA hiring practices in Denver.
Let’s wrap up with organizing updates and some good news – a successful decertification effort:
- Those prolific poachers, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers(IAM), gathered almost 1,000 psychiatric techs and patient care associates at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center.
- Labcorp techs and assistants in Oregon overwhelmingly voted to join the Union of American Physicians & Dentists.
- 2,300+ Michigan Medicine workers, including techs, phlebotomists, clerks, and patient services workers, voted to join the SEIU.
- 100 HRI Hospital workers, including registered nurses, dietary workers, and mental health staff, voted to remove the SEIU with help from the National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation.
