Dozens of University of Pennsylvania Health System residents and fellows attempted to deliver a petition addressed to Penn Medicine CEO Kevin Mahoney on Aug. 30 demanding an effort to finalize a union contract after a year of negotiations.
But no management representatives were present to receive the petition — which was signed by a supermajority of Penn Med interns and residents — a spokesperson for the Committee of Interns and Residents, which represents the union, wrote in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian. The spokesperson added that the union plans to file an Unfair Labor Practice Charge with the National Labor Relations Board in response to Penn security’s actions during recent unionization events.
The petition is demanding an end to a years’ worth of negotiations, asking Penn Med to settle on a contract that would provide better working conditions and help residents avoid burnout while delivering care to patients.
State Rep. Rick Krajewski (D-Philadelphia), who represents the area including Penn’s campus, attended the event, which took place in the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine. The petition was set to be delivered to Mahoney’s office by “the state’s top Ben Franklin impersonator,” according to a press release. The DP was unable to confirm if the impersonator was present.
“We have continued to bargain in good faith with CIR/SEIU and will not work on that process through the media,” a Penn Medicine spokesperson wrote in a statement to the DP. “We look forward to reconvening with union representatives at the next bargaining session on September 17th and finalizing a fair and equitable contract for Penn Medicine’s housestaff.”
The most recent bargaining session took place on July 23, according to the press release.
In a statement, the CIR spokesperson referred to Penn security’s response to unionization efforts as “violations” that “raise serious concerns for our members who simply want to celebrate their union together.”
“We will continue to take action inside and outside the hospital until hospital representatives meet us at the table to negotiate a fair contract that prioritizes patient care and physicians’ wellbeing,” the spokesperson wrote.
The event took place after multiple collective actions in the same week, according to the press release, including a lunchtime gathering on Aug. 27 in the courtyard of Pennsylvania Hospital. Hospital security shut down the event, which was designed to celebrate the union, residents claimed.
Second-year family-medicine resident and union organizer Jamal Moss told the DP that the Aug. 27 event was intended to celebrate the union receiving a supermajority of signatures on the petition and to distribute copies of the document to residents.
“During that time, when we were going into the building, security was there, and they were asking for our IDs, which was unusual because it never happens,” he said, referring to the checks of identification upon entry near the building’s escalators. “After we got in there … security didn’t give us too much of a hassle, but they did come over and ask us what we were doing.”
Security’s identification checks extended to Krajewski — a 2013 Engineering graduate — who had difficulty accessing the upper lobby of the hospital where the event took place. Moss told the DP that since Krajewski did not have a hospital badge or proof that he had an appointment with a doctor, he had to “get managers and heads of security involved” to be escorted to where the event took place.
“Rep. Krajewski did eventually meet with a group of workers, and expressed his support for their organizing and his appreciation of their tireless work,” the union wrote in a press release.
Krajewski, who is historically a vocal supporter of labor organization at Penn — including the graduate student workers’ and resident advisors’ unions — did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
Penn Med residents and fellows unionized in May 2023, forming the first housestaff union in Pennsylvania, and have been in negotiations with Mahoney and his bargaining team since. Residents previously told the DP that they unionized to improve resident life and wellness, including fighting for higher salaries and the rights to contribute opinions to the hospital system’s decisions.
“If we want to provide the best care, the best medicine, to the patients of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia, we have to be our best selves,” Moss said. “If Penn wants to make sure that their patients have that, then they have to make sure that we as residents and doctors feel supported and are able to live our best lives as well.”
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