Penn fellows, residents rally outside hospital to demand better wages as months-long negotiations carry on

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — More than 100 Penn Medicine residents and fellows rallied Wednesday afternoon for better wages for the hospital network’s front-line workers, as their union continues to negotiate terms.

Penn residents and fellows joined a national union last year, the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR), and have been negotiating a new contract for about eight months. They say that as vital employees of hospitals, they often work extensive hours, yet the pay is not proportionate to the work.

“We can work as much as 80 hours a week, sometimes more, even though we are not supposed to,” said Dr. Lane Kantor, a first-year resident of internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. “We sometimes work 24- to 28-hour shifts without rest. And as people can probably guess, it’s a lot of grueling work and life-and-death decisions.”

As trainees, Kantor said they are there to learn, but they are still employees.

“Many of us have as much as $300,000 or more in student debt,” he said. “We are the backbone and the frontline of what runs this hospital. We are the main people overnight.”

“A lot of us have families as well as loans, student loans that we have to pay back,” added Dr. Ja’Nelle Blocker, CIR regional vice president and fellow at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. “We can’t even live in the city in which we treat.”

A spokesperson for Penn Medicine said the health system values the residents and fellows and has had 14 bargaining sessions since October 2023. Officials believe they are close to a deal on the “non-economic terms.”

“We will continue these efforts as we work through economic proposals, a process which is guided by our longstanding commitment to providing all members of our workforce — including residents and fellows — with competitive wages and best-in-class benefits, including a retirement savings match, tuition reimbursement, and paid leave for new parents,” a statement read.