AFT launches new union physicians’ organizing effort: Doctors across the country are joining together for rights and respect

AFT launches new union physicians’ organizing effort: Doctors across the country are joining together for rights and respect 
American Federation of Teachers; by Alexis Lopez; 6/18/24  
AFT President Randi Weingarten announced the launch of a brand-new doctors’ organizing initiative and division: Union Physicians of AFT. Doctors across the country are faced with crippling burnout from administrative overload, frustration over financial barriers affecting their patients’ capacity to pay, and lack of respect from corporate owners who put profits over patients—and now they’re organizing with the AFT to fight back. ... These challenges are apparent across the healthcare sector, but less than 10 percent of all U.S. doctors have formed unions. The tide is rapidly turning. ... The ranks of AFT’s physicians have already grown at an unprecedented rate—with over 3,200 new members, from New York to Oregon, joining the union over the last year. The AFT is the fastest growing healthcare union and the second-largest nurses union in the U.S.