Union of American Physicians and Dentists. In 1972 Dr.Sanford A. Marcus, private practice surgeon at Seaton Hospital in San Mateo County, concluded that physicians in America needed to form a union. Marcus told multiple doctors at the hospital he worked at about his union idea, but they all thought he was crazy. They said if he wanted a union he would have to form it himself, so that is what Dr.Marcus did. He went to the American Medical Association (AMA) to organize a union. The president of the AMA wrote an editorial in the AM News disproving of unionism for physicians. Dr.Marcus then wrote a letter to the president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) asking him to form a union for doctors. The president then responded with “I can’t help you now, but come back in ten years. Most of you will have become employees. Then we will be able to talk.” …show more content…
In the letters Dr.Marcus asked these doctors to pay a $25 entrance fee if they wished to be apart of the doctors union. The letter quoted “There are three commodities for which we labor— money, the power to determine our own destinies, and intangibles such as honor of the satisfaction of healing.” Dr.Marcus was shocked by the 500 responses, which 250 of them included checks. Later on the San Francisco Chronicle wrote an article on the letter and how strong the response he got was. Several dentists then approached Dr.Marcus with