this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2026
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Work Reform
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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.
Our Philosophies:
- All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
- Income inequality is the main cause of lower living standards.
- Workers must join together and fight back for what is rightfully theirs.
- We must not be divided and conquered. Workers gain the most when they focus on unifying issues.
Our Goals
- Higher wages for underpaid workers.
- Better worker representation, including but not limited to unions.
- Better and fewer working hours.
- Stimulating a massive wave of worker organizing in the United States and beyond.
- Organizing and supporting political causes and campaigns that put workers first.
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I'm generally extremely pro-union, but there are some exceptions, such as police unions. I'm concerned about the power a doctors union could weild. Something happened in South Korea that's relevant. Doctors, or at least trainee doctors, in South Korea, went on strike in protest of the government increasing admission numbers to Korean medical schools. It sounded to me like they were protesting the training of more doctors than the norm, which doesn't sound like a decent thing to protest imo.
This type of uncorrelated extrapolation suggests you are not extremely pro-union
I guess it's fair to discount my Korea example, that was a mass resignation aimed at government admissions policy, not a union bargaining with an employer. However I still think their is a similar undercurrent and I still worry a physicians' union would have more power than most other unions.
My concern is what stops a physicians' union from bargaining over things beyond improving their working conditions? As I mentioned, physicans in Korea were opposed to a policy that will likely be beneficial to their society and collectively acted in protest. That's what makes police unions my pro-union exception. It's not their pay, but contract terms covering discipline and internal investigations. If a Banner contract stayed on pay, panel size and staffing ratios, I have no problem with it, but what keeps those limits?
Does anyone know what's on their bargaining agenda?
I think this is a fair concern. Doctors already have high bargaining power compared to other workers, especially in the US where the number of doctors is artificially restricted.
That's not to say I think they should be denied the right to unionize but my support is a little more subdued compared to workers at the bottom of the social hierarchy.