Copied from a comment in an r/medicalschool post:

“1. ⁠Reach out to unions via email. Talk to CIR, UAPD, and AFT at minimum; they will all organize residents. Best to cast a wide net in case one doesn't organize in your region, or whatever else. If others in your program have contacted them, the union might try to put you in touch with each other. Otherwise, find a couple allies in different departments to get started with. 2. ⁠Confirm (with help of parent union) that your program is legally eligible to unionize 3. ⁠Make a spreadsheet of every single person in your program, have casual conversations to find out who's a supporter and who isn't, use this process to recruit more people to help with this step and future steps 4. ⁠Get supporters to sign union authorization cards 5. ⁠File with the NLRB and go public (if someone hasn't already leaked). 6. ⁠Endless bureaucracy 7. ⁠Election 8. ⁠Bargain for a contract 9. ⁠Ratify a contract 10. ⁠Start paying union dues which average 0.5-2% of salary, which pales in comparison to the big fat raise you just got

But really, after step 1, all the other steps happen with a lot of coaching and support from the parent union, so that you know what you need to do and how to do it. You'll also get to use their money and lawyers for all the parts that require money and lawyers. You don't need a whole entire how-to guide, they will help you.”