Salary Bump at Mass General Brigham No Deterrent for Residents Looking to Unionize

— “We really are just asking for a seat at the table”

by Jennifer HendersonEnterprise & Investigative Writer, MedPage Today April 4, 2023

House staff may be primed for a salary increase at Mass General Brigham in Boston, but they’re still proceeding with efforts to unionize nonetheless.

Just last month, Mass General Brigham announced compensation and benefits adjustments to include a 10% salary increase for all residents and clinical fellows, as well as an increased annual stipend of $10,000.

However, on Tuesday, the Committee of Interns and Residents/Service Employees International Union confirmed that the house staff’s petition for union status had been filed with the National Labor Relations Board, which comes after Mass General Brigham declined their initial request.

The back-and-forth between house staff and Mass General Brigham is the latest such instance amid a flurry of renewed interest by residents and fellows looking to unionize across the U.S.

Notably, the series of events in Boston did include significant salary increases, though Mass General Brigham has stated that they are not being offered only because trainees want to unionize.

For their part, residents and fellows appear to be undeterred when it comes to seeking union status.

“We’re really pleased, and we think this shows that, when house staff work together, we can make major gains,” Kayty Himmelstein, MD, MSEd, an infectious disease fellow, told MedPage Today.

Additional areas of interest include working conditions, measures to stave off burnout, and a say in things that affect patient care, noted Sascha Murillo, MD, a third-year internal medicine resident.

“At this point, we are riding on a wave of resident programs that are seeking to unionize,” Murillo told MedPage Today. “We really are just asking for a seat at the table.”

Recently, the COVID pandemic has exposed many vulnerabilities among healthcare workers and patients, she added.

Both Himmelstein and Murillo said that their bargaining unit would consist of approximately 2,500 residents and fellows, and that it has majority support.

In response to a request for comment from MedPage TodayPaul Anderson, MD, PhD, interim chief academic officer at Mass General Brigham, wrote in a email, “Mass General Brigham is home to some of the top-ranked and highest-paid residency programs in the country. We promise an outstanding educational environment that balances clinical service and learning, and provides well-rounded support to ensure a meaningful experience, professionally and personally, to these highly valued members of our community. Though healthcare is facing unprecedented challenges, Mass General Brigham remains committed to the lifelong advancement of our medical trainees and working directly together to continuously improve our educational programs.”

As for the recently announced salary increase, which is slated to take effect July 1, it consists of a 2.5% salary and wage increase and a 7.5% market adjustment.

The salary increase for resident physicians at Mass General Brigham means earnings that indeed appear to remain at the top of the charts.

An updated salary scale on Mass General’s website indicates a compensation range that starts at $78,540 for PGY 1 and climbs to $110,000 for PGY 8.

In comparison, a post from the American Medical Association last July noted that the average first-year resident makes about $60,000and further stated that “there’s not much wiggle room.”

Overall, and regardless of the salary increase, Murillo said that it is imperative for “the people who lift the system up to have a seat at the table.”