The News Tribune today printed an article entitled “Auburn Medical Center doctors working to unionize physicians.” From that article:
Neil Partain, a hospitalist at the Auburn hospital, agreed that a union seems potentially the most effective option for becoming part of Multicare administrative decisions.
“We’ve slowly learned that if we want to stay relevant with how patients are taken care of and the decisions that are made within the organization, we have to be able to come together as one voice and be heard by the company,” said Partain, who has been with Multicare for three years.
The article also quotes Dr. Virginia Stowell, who delineates some of the goals of this unionization effort:
Virginia Stowell, a general surgeon at Multicare who has been part of the unionization efforts, said that if a union is formed, potential issues for negotiations include:
▪ More autonomy in directing patient care.
▪ Negotiating wages, benefits and working conditions.
▪ Forming a well-defined grievance process.
▪ Ending the practice of being fired without cause.
▪ Establishing guarantees that jobs will not be outsourced.
▪ Receiving paid sick leave and paid vacations.