More than two hundred Boston Medical Center resident physicians rallied Thursday afternoon, following three months of negotiations with BMC calling for a fairer contract with higher wages and core benefits.
The crowd of residents gathered outside BMC, chanting slogans like “No contract, no peace!” and “What do we want? A living wage! When do we want it? Now!” Residents carried navy blue signs with messages like: “BMC is for everyone. Residency should be, too.”
Last month, residents and fellows at Mass General Brigham voted to unionize, creating one of the largest unions of its kind in the country. They were primarily concerned with higher wages and financial support for childcare, but they also sought lower health insurance costs, compensation for physicians’ work supplies, and financial support for patients.
BMC is the city’s primary safety net hospital and the region’s largest level one trauma center. The nearly 750 resident physicians there are represented by the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIRSEIU) and “face extreme hours and working conditions and rampant burnout,” according to a press advisory from CIRSEIU. Some work extra jobs to make ends meet, according to the union.
Dr. Paolo Mauricio, a second year resident in emergency medicine, said he works 5 to 20 hours a week driving for Uber to make ends meet on top of 60 hours a week at the hospital. In addition to affording his rent and sending money home to support his family in the Philippines, his biggest worry is repaying his student loans.
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The residents’ demands include a living wage comparable to peer institutions in the area, an additional stipend to assist with the high cost of living in the Boston area, a parking fund to offset high parking costs, fair compensation for extra shifts, and improvements to their diversity, equity, and inclusion fund. The low salaries shut out residents of color who may come from lower-income backgrounds, the union argued, and can’t afford the cost of living and moving costs.
First year residents at BMC make $66,750 a year, according to the union. That’s compared to $78,540 at Mass General Brigham, $76,680 at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, $71,682 at Tufts Medical Center, and $68,810 at Cambridge Health Alliance, according to a CIRSEIU spokesperson.
Dr. Anisah Hashmi, a second year psychiatry resident, said some of her colleagues spent over half their monthly salary on rent, which for a one bedroom in the BMC area costs $3,200. Parking can run an additional $280 a month, she said.
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”We don’t have the safety net to live here,” she said. “Our residents need the money now. We can’t wait.”
In a statement, BMC said it “greatly values the contribution our residents and fellows make to our hospital. We are actively in conversation with the Committee of Interns and Residents and look forward to, once again, negotiating a mutually agreeable contract.”
Dr. Brett Lewis, a third year family medicine and psychiatry resident who serves as a union delegate, said she came to BMC to serve vulnerable populations.
“We’re not against BMC,” Lewis said. “We want to help them achieve their goals of health equity.”
Nearly half of her paycheck goes to pay her monthly rent of $2,200, which she said is already on the lower end for the area.
Dr. Taha Khan, a fourth year resident in pediatric neurology, is the first doctor in her family. She is currently looking for affordable housing; her rent has gone up, and with expenses that exceed her paycheck, she can no longer afford it on her current salary.
“We want to do the work we came here to do,” she said. “But we just don’t have money. We’re always in the negative.”
Sarah Raza can be reached at sarah.raza@globe.com. Follow her @sarahmraza.