Residents who work for Wayne State University have received official recognition of their newly formed union: the Alliance of Resident Physicians (ARP), which is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers/AFL-CIO. The union’s majority support was verified by a neutral third party and the union received official notice of recognition from the University administration under the cooperative union organizing policy adopted by the Wayne State board.
“We’re excited to begin bargaining with Wayne State to improve conditions for our members and our patients,” said Wen Chen, a resident in Urology.
ARP is working to unite resident physicians across Metro Detroit, with this group of Wayne State residents joining their colleagues who work for Detroit Education & Research at the Detroit Medical Center (DMC) as charter members of the union.
Justin Bria, a surgery resident at DMC said, “Detroit Education & Research residents are thrilled that our colleagues at Wayne State have gained official recognition and can begin the bargaining process. We hope the DMC administration will drop their frivolous legal challenges and let our unit vote to recognize our union as well.”
The residents join a growing number of healthcare workers within AFT, including thousands of physician assistants and other professionals at Michigan Medicine.
