Frequently Asked Questions

What is a union?

A union is an organized group of co-workers advocating to improve working conditions through contract negotiations and collective actions. Forming a union is the only way to negotiate a legally binding contract with hospital management that ensures doctors have a voice in the process.

Are doctors even eligible to unionize?
As medicine becomes more corporatized, an increasing number of physicians are considered employees and are joining together in unions to reclaim our power and practice conditions.

Employment circumstances vary and may affect a physician’s eligibility to unionize. Schedule a conversation with a Doctors United organizer to discuss your rights to form a union with your colleagues and advocate for your patients and your futures together.

Who is Doctors United?

SEIU Doctors United is a doctor-led movement to transform the patient-doctor experience and push back against the corporatization of medicine by building lasting physician power through a united union voice.

United together in the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the Committee of Interns and Residents (SEIU-CIR) and Doctors Council-SEIU comprise the largest and fastest growing union of physicians in the U.S., representing over 43,000 housestaff and attendings. Together, we are dedicated to improving working conditions, advancing patient care, and expanding healthcare access for the communities we serve. We also have a rich history of collaborating with some of the nation’s largest public health systems to reduce barriers to care and build a more sustainable profession.

We join one million healthcare workers in SEIU Healthcare who provide quality care and services in hospitals and nursing homes and to seniors and people with disabilities in their homes and communities. Regardless of where we work, where we are from, or the job we do, we use our collective strength to win quality jobs and quality care for all.

What are the benefits of forming a union?

As healthcare professionals, we see issues every day that impact us, our patients, and our colleagues. While we often have great ideas for improving patient care or working conditions, it can be difficult to have our voices heard as individuals.

Once we win our union, we will collectively bargain a legally-binding contract with our employer that includes competitive wages, benefits, a voice in our working conditions and policies to protect our safety and well-being so we can provide the care our patients need and deserve.

After we have a contract, our salaries or working conditions cannot be changed without the hospital first notifying our union and bargaining about how the change could affect us, and ultimately our patients.

What does forming a union have to do with patient care?
As physicians, our working conditions are our patients' care conditions. When the profit motive pushes hospitals to increase panel sizes, reduce visit lengths and generally expect us to do more with less, it is patients who suffer the consequences. Collective bargaining allows physicians to take control of our working conditions and build an environment where we have the time, space and emotional reserve to deliver high quality patient care.

The doctors in my hospital work in a wide variety of specialties and settings. How could one union represent all of us?
Regardless of specialty or practice setting, all physicians have common challenges and a shared desire to provide the highest quality of patient care under sustainable and healthy working conditions. Joining together in the largest and fastest growing union of physicians gives us the opportunity to compare experiences and share best practices, not just with colleagues at our facility but with SEIU doctors across the country.

We are stronger as a union, and as physicians, because of our collective diversity. Uniting across specialty, race, gender, ethnicity and years of experience better positions us as we collectively bargain our contract and raise issues with administration. It’s why, in our union, member input and leadership across specialties and departments isn’t just welcomed, it’s an imperative.

What are dues and what are they used for?

Dues are set by the membership and typically are a percentage of base pay. The cost of dues is  offset by the economic gains made by unionizing and winning our contract. Dues cover the cost of organizing, negotiating and enforcing our contracts, such as legal and staff support. No one pays dues until eligible doctors vote to approve the first contract.

I have a good relationship with my section chief and program director. Why rock the boat with a third party?

A union isn’t a third party, it’s a collective of workers banded together to reclaim our power. Forming a union gives doctors a new way to work together. We sit as equals to negotiate a legally-binding contract that spells out fair work rules and procedures to ensure they are followed. The union-management collaboration councils we have negotiated provide an opportunity to have an open dialogue about improving the patient-physician experience. This dedicated engagement through our union can actually empower supervisors to better advocate for changes otherwise unseen by hospital administrators.

What do doctors have in common with janitors, Starbucks and other care and service workers united in SEIU?

The past few decades have seen a radical shift in the position of physicians within healthcare. Where physicians used to be predominantly owners of solo or group practices, a majority are now employees of large corporations. Like other employees of large corporations, physicians are increasingly subject to a leadership structure that is more concerned with profitability than quality. This power imbalance — between worker and employer — is prevalent in every industry, and SEIU members use our shared experience to leverage gains that benefit all working people.

How can doctors at my hospital start the process of unionizing?

The first thing you can do is start talking to trusted colleagues about issues you’re experiencing at work. As laws about eligibility and the process to form a union differ based on employer and location, schedule a conversation with a Doctors United organizer to discuss how to build physician power in your context.

Will I experience retaliation for supporting a union?

You may be worried that supporting a union will cause you to be unfairly targeted, leading to negative consequences for your career, professional relationships, or visa status. It is illegal to retaliate against anyone for participating in union activity.

Moreover, when doctors form a union, we are a collective–reflecting a diversity of race, gender, country of origin and experience–acting together on behalf of our patients and our profession. Our strength is in our numbers, so no one is singled out.

What are my rights?

Doctors have the legally-protected right to:

• Form, or attempt to form, a union in your workplace
• Discuss improving your working conditions with your co-workers
• Organize without intimidation or retaliation by your employer

Despite these rights, employers go to great lengths to silence doctors. Learn more here

Will I be forced to go on strike?
The greater majority of union contracts are settled without a strike, but there are moments when collective action by healthcare workers, including strikes, can be a powerful tool to show solidarity and the significance of our labor. Like all important decisions in our union, the decision whether or not to strike can only be made by a majority vote.

No one is obliged to strike, and the employer is given ten days advance notice to ensure measures are taken to protect patients.

Are union dues spent on political endorsements?

We are a diverse union of workers from all backgrounds and beliefs committed to building power to create a better future for our families and the people we serve. Union dues are not used to support political candidates, however, members may voluntarily contribute funds to SEIU’s non-partisan political action committee.

As healthcare professionals, we know that who we elect and what they do in office affects the practice of medicine, our patients’ access to affordable care, and the services our communities need to thrive.

Our endorsement process is member-led and prioritizes electing candidates who champion working family initiatives, including strong unions for all.

What is union busting and what does it look like?

Know how to diagnose union-busting tactics:

Are one or more of the following symptoms present?

• Incentives: Is your employer suddenly addressing long-standing issues, or making improvements to your wages and benefits? Employers may suddenly be ready to listen when you and your co-workers start coming together.
• Intimidation: Are your bosses telling you there might be negative consequences for unionizing? They are trying to create an atmosphere of fear.
• Misinformation and dissuasion: Is management telling you outright that it is in physicians' best interest to oppose unionization? Employers will often stretch the truth or even lie in order to dissuade you.

Then you’re looking at a case of union busting.

What’s the treatment?
You and your coworkers should ask yourselves some questions:

• Why do you think your employer would work so hard to stop you and other doctors from forming a union?
• Why does your hospital not want doctors to have more power?
• What’s so threatening about a unified physician voice in your workplace?

Union busting tactics are successful when they create division, confusion and fear.

But if you and your coworkers have decided you are ready for more power and a stronger voice, you can stand together against these tactics. Solidarity is the best medicine.