From the President’s Desk: Unionization?
June 2021—Several CAP fellows have reached out to me recently about a topic many find controversial: whether pathologists should unionize. Some of this interest stems from concerns about employment models and how pathologists are treated in various situations. Some of it comes from concerns that pathologists are not being compensated appropriately for the risks and responsibilities they bear daily. The COVID-19 pandemic has also fueled increased interest in unionizing among many types of health care workers. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, people who work in health care and social assistance are a little less likely to belong to unions than people in other fields. In 2020, 7.1 percent of workers employed in health care and social assistance were members of unions, compared with 10.8 percent for people in all industries. But the pandemic has led to an uptick in unionizing interest for many in the health care field, from nurses and respiratory therapists to many other providers as well as physicians. My great-grandfather was instrumental in bringing the United Mine Workers of America to the coal mines in Appalachia at a time when that was one of the most dangerous jobs in the country. Many miners were paid by the number of tons of coal they dug. The more they dug, the higher the pay.