BUFFALO, N.Y. — University at Buffalo medical residents and fellows continued their strike for a second day Wednesday.
The residents, who work at major Western New York hospitals — such as Buffalo General, Erie County Medical Center, and Oishei Children’s Hospital — gathered for the biggest presence yet of the four-day strike. Over 150 residents joined the picket line to continue to call for better wages, benefits and working conditions.
The union held a press conference Wednesday to continue to speak out about what it’s asking for.
“The math does not add up,” said Rob Boreanaz, the lead negotiator with the Union of American Physicians and Dentists, which represents UB residents.
“Essentially, each of the residency programs throughout the entire state of New York get the same amount of taxpayer dollars sent to it in order to pay the wages and benefits, as well as the training for these residents. Somehow, miraculously, every other program can pay the residents of their program better wages and better benefits.”
UAPD President Stuart Bussey added: “UB is the greedy party here. The house staff's take home pay after taxes per hour is less than minimum wage. Does that sound greedy to you, while Kaleida and UB executives make well into the millions of dollars a year?”
University Medical Resident Services, the third-party company responsible for the residents’ payroll and which has been handling these negotiations, told 2 On Your Side they’ve made an offer to the residents that matches their demands and that what the residents are now asking for is not responsible.
After a year at the bargaining table, however, the residents say they are frustrated because they have not once been joined by stakeholders at any of the major hospital groups they work at every day and feel that a deal would’ve been reached by now if the people they consider their bosses were present.
That’s why on Thursday they plan to make their way outside the UB’s Jacobs School of Medicine to call out to those stakeholders and demand they join them at the bargaining table when they return on Monday.
The strike is set to continue through Friday.