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As many resident physicians and fellows across the country eye opportunities to unionize, those at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx in New York City are the latest to do so.

Their aim -- like others before them -- is securing a seat at the table when it comes to important decisions that can affect working conditions and the provision of care, according to from the Committee of Interns and Residents/Service Employees International Union (CIR/SEIU).

On Tuesday, resident physicians at Montefiore also announced their intention to form a union with CIR/SEIU, holding a press briefing outside their place of employment.

The efforts come on the heels of an organizing campaign that started more than a year ago, according to CIR/SEIU. Now, a supermajority of the 1,200-plus person unit has requested immediate voluntary recognition.

"To have a union and a voice at the table, that's the biggest thing that we want," Isuree Katugampala, MD, MPH, a third-year pediatrics resident at Montefiore, told MedPage Today.

Specific areas Katugampala and her colleagues hope to address include pay that they feel adequately reflects the number of hours residents work and increases in the cost-of-living in New York City, she said. Resident physicians would also like to be more involved when it comes to decisions about compensation for filling in when others are sick, benefits like paid family leave, and additional support staff.

Katugampala noted that she and many of her colleagues came to Montefiore for their residency because the institution provides care to a vulnerable and underserved population in the Bronx.

"We want to provide them with the highest level of care possible, " Katugampala said. She added that she and many of her colleagues believe unionizing will help them better advocate on behalf of their patients and themselves and their own training that they've invested so much in.

CIR/SEIU said in its announcement that the efforts of resident physicians at Montefiore mark the most recent instance "in an ongoing wave of house staff unionization across the U.S., with more than 2,000 residents choosing to join CIR within the last six months."

Earlier this year, MedPage Today reported on unionization efforts at Stanford Health Care in California as well as at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles.

Katugampala called the flurry of recent campaigns both "inspiring" and "validating," and said that they make it feel as though "we are taking the right step forward in trying to get a union here."

CIR/SEIU also noted that current efforts at Montefiore actually date back to the 1970s, when residents and fellows there first organized with the union. "Now, more than 40 years after the removal of their union, these front line health care providers are once again demanding change," CIR/SEIU stated.

Following the submission of their demand for recognition on Tuesday, resident physicians will give Montefiore until the end of the day on Friday to respond, a spokesperson for CIR/SEIU confirmed in an email. If Montefiore refuses to recognize the union, the residents' next steps may then be to go through the National Labor Relations Board.

Montefiore provided the following statement to MedPage Today in an email: "Montefiore Einstein is nationally recognized for clinical excellence, and for delivering patient-centered care to the most diverse urban areas in the country where the population is global, the disease burden is high, and the need for quality care is great. Our residents come here, armed with a passion to address those challenges and a commitment to carry those experiences into the demanding roles they are likely to step into. Our success and our reputation are grounded in the world-class training we provide and the compassionate care we extend not just to our patients, but to our residents and all who make the selfless commitment to provide care here."

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