N.L. pitting MDs against each other: doctors

Newfoundland and Labrador doctors have rejected the province's suggestion that they should divvy up the $81 million they are being offeredin negotiations for a new four-year contract.

"It's an attempt by this government to pit doctor against doctor," said Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association president Dr. Patrick O'Shea.

Late last week, government officials suggested doctors should divideamong their various specialty groupsthe$81-million raise theyhave beenoffered in contract negotiations with the province.

O'Shea said that is not acceptable. He said that would forceNLMA to take money from one group of doctorsto satisfy other groups of doctors.

"The two-tier salary scale for medical specialists is a problem that [Premier Danny Williams] created in 2008," he said. "It is a problem that he will have to fix. It's a simple solution equal pay for work of equal value."

In the spring of 2008,Williams offered some specialists, including oncologists and pathologists, a pay raise after a provincialinquiry into inaccurate breast cancertests concluded some specialists might leave the province.

Earlier this month, 14 medical specialists in the province, who weren't included in theMay 2008 deal,resigned effective in February. They said theyare leavingbecause the 2008 dealmeans they don't get equal pay for equal work.

O'Shea reiterated a call from the NLMA to send thecontract dispute to binding arbitration.

"If they are as confident as they say they are that their offer is fair, why are they not willing to go to binding arbitration?" he asked.

Speaking with reporters Monday afternoon, provincial Finance Minister Tom Marshall repeated that binding arbitration is not necessary.

Last March, the government rejected the medical association's call forarbitration, saying it believed the two parties could reach a negotiated settlement.

Theassociation is calling for pay increases that would give doctors in Newfoundland and Labrador pay parity with their colleagues in Atlantic Canada. It says the province will be unable to recruit and retain physicians in the future if doctors' demands are not met.

In October 2002,the province'sdoctors went on strike for more than two weeks when negotiations for a new contractbroke down. The dispute went to binding arbitration and doctors were awarded a $54-million raise, millions more than the government's final offer.