🔒Following lawmaker’s push, UMass Chan reaches tentative agreement to boost union physician pay

A month after seven Worcester representatives signed a letter urging UMass Chan Medical School to increase physician wages, the Worcester university has reached a tentative contract agreement with the physician union representing 700 UMass providers. During contract negotiations on Thursday evening, UMass Chan reached a three-year collective bargaining agreement with the Committee of Interns and Residents, covering between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2028, according to a statement provided by the university to WBJ. “A fair contract for UMass housestaff means better care for Central Massachusetts patients,” Dr. Dipavo Banerjee, UMass addiction psychiatry fellow and member of the bargaining team, said in a Monday press release from CIR-SEIU. Under the contract, the 700 physicians represented by the CIR-SEIU will receive 9.5% raises over the next three years. Additionally, residents and fellows will receive a medical education stipend increase from $1,000 to $1,500 per year, $5,000 in annual reimbursements for mental health services, up to $1,000 each year in reimbursements for out of pocket medical costs, and a $500 educational allowance increase, according to UMass Chan and CIR-SEIU. “As cuts to vital health services, including Medicaid, hurt our Worcester community, investing in frontline caregivers is essential for protecting top-quality patient care. I’m proud of the work our bargaining team and housestaff did to make meaningful gains that let us focus on what matters most - our patients,” Banerjee said in the release. CIR-SEIU union members are employed by UMass Chan and work within the university and the Worcester-based UMass Memorial Health system, Renee Hamel, communications coordinator for the union, told WBJ. Union staff will hold a ratification vote next week. "There was unanimous approval of the tentative agreement so we are optimistic the expected gains will be achieved," Banerjee said in an email to WBJ. The tentative contract agreement comes after Worcester representatives signed a Sept. 16 letter to Dr. Eric Dickson, president and CEO of UMass Memorial Health; Marty Meehan, president of the University of Massachusetts system; and Dr. Michael Collins, chancellor of UMass Chan, pressing the leaders to come to a contract resolution with the union that addresses the struggles of its interns, residents, and physicians. Worcester government leaders who signed the letter included state senators Robyn Kennedy and Michael Moore and state representatives John Mahoney, James O’Day, Mary Keefe, Daniel Donahue, and Daniel LeBoeuf. “Without them, our healthcare system would not function or provide critical care services. These medical professionals are themselves experiencing a crisis of stress, burnout, and mental health struggles exacerbated by financial anxiety of housing costs in Worcester, heightened inflation, and increasing student debt (averaging a quarter million dollars per resident physician),” the letter said. Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.