Last week, Banner Health clinicians in metro Phoenix voted in favor of unionizing for better working conditions and patient care and outcomes.
One physician talked about what’s next.
Dr. Justin Watkins practices family medicine at Banner. He says since voting to join the Union of American Physicians and Dentists, there’s been a lot of excitement among staff.
"In the next week or so, we expect the results to be certified, finalized," he said. "We're not anticipating at this time that there'll be any challenges just based on the margin of victory."
Nearly 70% of the voting clinicians were in support of union representation. Watkins says Banner likely thought they were dealing with a smaller percentage of dissatisfied staff.
"Now they are realizing that we are nowhere near a minority. We are a large majority of their workforce."
In a statement, Banner said if the results are certified, they will consider next steps in meeting their obligation to the union.
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