Physician collective bargaining in a U.S. public hospital.
In a study to investigate the factors that would drive attending physicians employed in a public hospital to seek collective bargaining with their employer, the authors developed an instrument to determine which variables and which hypotheses were predictive of union proneness. The findings reveal that a desire for voice was the number one reason for physicians' wanting to join a union. Union-prone physicians had a lower salary on average, were more dissatisfied with their income, were more likely to feel the effects of work "speed up" (too many patients and too little time), were less likely to have administrative functions (thus a larger patient care role), had a strong sense of entitlement to collective bargaining, believed that unions improve participation in decisions affecting their jobs (reinforcing their desire for voice), and had a sense that a union would improve their treatment by supervisors (reinforcing their desire for due process and equity).
Thompson
Stephen L
SL
National-Louis University, Health Studies Department, Evanston, IL 60201-1796, USA. sthompson@nl.edu
Salmon
J Warren
JW
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003098:Collective Bargaining; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D018578:Hospital-Physician Relations; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015146:Midwestern United States; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D012456:Salaries and Fringe Benefits; D014481:United States; D000078329:Workforce; D016526:Workload