Unionized resident doctors and fellows at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston voted on July 1 to ratify their first collective bargaining agreement after nearly a year of negotiations. The deal delivers sizable pay bumps for junior doctors, adds reimbursement for licensing exams and guarantees 12 weeks of parental leave. The agreement still needs signoff from hospital leaders and is set to run through 2029, landing just as other hospital unions across the city gear up for strikes and contract showdowns this week.
What the Deal Includes
According to The Boston Globe, first-year residents' pay will climb to $92,929, an 8 percent increase paired with a $10,000 annual stipend, up from a preunion salary of $76,680. Base salaries are scheduled to rise 2.5 percent on June 30, 2027, and another 2.5 percent on June 30, 2028.
The pact also reimburses required medical licensing exams and provides 12 weeks of parental leave. It covers more than 800 doctors represented by the Committee of Interns and Residents.
"This fair contract is about more than improved working conditions; it is about strengthening patient care and demonstrating what is possible when physicians stand together," Dr. Kevin Makhoul, a bargaining committee member, said in a statement to The Boston Globe.
Local Union Momentum
The bargaining unit initially registered about 850 trainees in filings with the National Labor Relations Board, The Harvard Crimson reported. The ratification marks the latest victory in a broader wave of organizing by hospital trainees and staff around Boston.
That same labor tide is rising across town, where more than 4,000 Brigham nurses and hundreds of Mass General Brigham home care clinicians have authorized strikes set to begin July 8, according to Boston.com.
Why Hospitals Are Watching
Hospital executives will be watching closely because residents at Mass General Brigham locked in their own first contract last year. That agreement raised wages by 7.5 percent and created new supports for trainees. The Boston Globe reported that the MGB deal included pay increases, mental health funding and exam reimbursement, provisions that helped reset expectations in negotiations around the region.
That earlier pact, combined with looming strike threats, has put hospital budgets and staffing plans under heightened pressure this summer.
What’s Next
The ratified Beth Israel agreement now heads to BIDMC leadership for formal approval. Once it is signed, the contract's pay and leave provisions will roll out on the schedule laid out in the pact.
Union leaders say the vote underscores what resident physicians can win when they negotiate collectively and expect to push for similar gains at other local training programs. Hospital leaders, for their part, have not released a timeline for their decision.
