A strike that was set to start Monday March 31 at the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. school of Medicine has been averted.
Residents have reached a tentative agreement with the administration at the Kalamazoo medical school after negotiating since August of last year.
Adrian Palmer is a second year resident in emergency medicine. He said the pay increase will help WMed compete with programs in larger cities like Detroit or Chicago.
“This way I can go to prospective candidates, and say, ‘We have really good stuff here. We have people who care about us here. They’re going to take care of you here. We’re on par with all these other places. Come hang out in Kalamazoo. Come do your residency here’,” he said. “So I think this really gives us a leg up in terms of getting good doctors here and potentially keeping them here.”
The Resident and Fellow Alliance, the residents' union, said in a statement that the tentative contract will include guaranteed salary increases and more flexible time off, as well as a meal and cell phone stipend.
Palmer was at the bargaining table, and said the process was frustrating, but paid off in the end.
“We were really happy we were able to avoid a strike,” he said. “At the end of the day, we wanted a fair contract, and I feel like we have a first contract now that’s a good middle ground for WMed and the residents.”
