California doctors union avoids strike with tentative contract

A union representing 1,300 resident physicians and fellows at three Los Angeles County hospitals reached a tentative contract with the county, averting a potential strike, the labor organization said Tuesday.

The Committee of Interns and Residents, a local chapter of Service Employees International Union, entered additional negotiations with the county following its vote late last month to authorize a strike.

No details were released on the tentative pact’s specifics or when members would vote on it but in a news release, the union said the proposal contained “significant material gains for resident physicians.”

In a statement, the county said “the proposed new contract recognizes the contributions of these valued healthcare professionals in serving county residents, while balancing the county’s commitment to fiscal responsibility.”

The resident physicians’ strike would have been the first by Committee of Interns and Residents members since 1990.

Doctors at Los Angeles County+University of Southern California Medical Center, Harbor-University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center and Martin Luther King, Jr. Outpatient Center sought raises and movement on other “key union proposals” the union said. First-year residents make $14 an hour and work 80 hours a week, according to the union.

The Committee of Interns and Residents, which represents 22,000 resident physicians and fellows nationwide, said it would release more details of the proposal Wednesday.