BUFFALO, N.Y. — University at Buffalo medical residents and union supporters began their strike today outside Buffalo General Hospital.
After a year of negotiations, they were unable to come to a mutual agreement with their employer. They are asking for an 8-10 percent raise, a better healthcare plan, a better retirement plan, and benefits that other universities provide their residents.
Stuart Bussey, president of the Union of American Physicians and Dentists, said that the third-party negotiator, UMRS has not met the physician's requests like they claim to have done.
"We have a reasonable offer on the table which took into account all these premium subsidies, retirement, everything that the other universities have," Bussey said.
"It's obvious that these residents are treated at the bottom of the barrel, they have every right to unionize every right to demonstrate and I hope the administration is watching this."
Joshua and Abby Head are both medical residents. They said that their deductible wouldn't even cover an emergency room visit.
They say that provides an extra financial burden on their family when they don't know how much it is going to cost them each month.
Head said, "So now we are stuck, wondering if we can pay our medical bills, we have medications, and the first month of every academic cycle, we might get hit with a seventeen hundred dollar bill,".
They added that the extra stress put on them due to financial troubles could end up affecting care quality if something doesn't change. Head said, "It's a burden on us financially, mentally, and ultimately that trickles down and affects patient care."
Late Tuesday afternoon, Catholic Health said in a statement, "Catholic Health trains resident physicians as an academic partner of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. As a patient-centered healthcare organization, we are committed to always putting our patients first. Our physicians, advanced practice providers, and the entire Catholic Health team are working to ensure there are no service interruptions and high-quality care delivery continues throughout the duration of the UB resident's strike".
The strike is planned to continue through the rest of the week with plans to return to the negotiating table as early as next Monday.