The Baltimore Banner: University of Maryland Medical Center doctors unionize, a first in the state

Cody Boteler and Emily Sullivan

4/25/2024 12:23 p.m. EDT, Updated 4/25/2024 12:59 p.m. EDT

A group of doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center have formed a union that would represent just over 900 resident physicians and fellows, according to union organizers.

Ari Goldstein, a member of the union’s organizing committee, said the group delivered a letter to the medical center’s management Thursday afternoon asking for recognition. Organizers said they had a brief, congenial meeting with management after delivering the letter.

“We’re one of the main engines that make the hospital work, along with nurses, along with techs,” Goldstein said. “The hospital has to have us to function.”

Organizers said a “super majority” of workers who would be in the union have signed cards indicating their commitment, but declined to give an exact number. The residents and fellows at UMMC have organized with the American Federation of Teachers — Maryland.

The group at UMMC would not be the AFT’s first medical union in Maryland, but it would be their first resident physician unit, said Umesh Pakalapati, a staff organizer with AFT.

Medical residents and fellows are physicians who are still in various stages of training, but they are degreed doctors. Residents typically have heavy workloads, including shifts that last for 24 hours or more. The University of Maryland Medical System says there are about 900 residents and fellows working at UMMC and about 1,200 attending physicians.