Doctors Manitoba Collective Agreement

It is unfortunate that many public sector unions, which have instead brought the government to justice for Bill 28, do not understand this reality. Their assertion that the government maintains its tariff rights is, at best, a crude approximation and, at worst, imprecise. (The government`s approach to consolidating tariff units in the health sector, which is very much delaying contract negotiations, is of course a separate theme.) In addition, an overall increase in contributions of 1.75 per cent over the last two years of the collective agreement is mentioned. „Based on the significant commitment of physicians through working groups, countless meetings and interviews, we have been able to engage in the profession and reach an agreement that supports a productive relationship with the government,“ Smith wrote. Manitoba Physicians has reached a new agreement with the province, President Fourie Smith told members Monday in a statement. The treaty is subject to membership approval. In a letter to doctors, Smith said Manitoba doctors have agreed on a new collective agreement that would come into effect retroactively on April 1 in an „increasingly turbulent“ environment. The letter from Manitoba Physicians states that the new agreement „supports a productive relationship with the government.“ Under the new interim agreement, doctors in the province will be allowed to increase their rates in the third and fourth year of their contracts, as required by law, for their other funded agreements, the memo says. The agreement provides for wage increases for Manitoba`s nearly 3,000 doctors, in line with Bill 28, the controversial bill that imposes two years of pay break for public service employees and mandate increases of no more than 0.75 per cent in the third year and one per cent in the fourth year. „We are confident that this new agreement will ensure a better future for all physicians and support our commitment to your professional, economic and personal well-being,“ the organization`s president, Dr. Fourie Smith, wrote in a memo to the Free Press this week.

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that, in certain circumstances, governments may impose wage freezes on public service employees unless this significantly infringes on the rights of collective agreements. It remains to be seen whether the appelnement courts will eventually approve the Pallister government. If Manitoba doctors can successfully negotiate a preliminary contract with the province in the face of a wage freeze imposed, there is no reason why other bargaining units cannot do the same. There is nothing in Bill 28 that prevents a union from negotiating a collective agreement outside the prescribed wage limits. Indeed, there are provisions that allow wage increases beyond the ceilings for years 3 and 4, when savings can be negotiated in other areas. There is plenty of space for bargains. Doctors have yet to vote on the agreement. This includes an additional $2 million for the maternity/parental allowance, $1 million for the continuing education program, $10 million in annual funding for physician retention and the creation of a governance committee to work with the government in the provision of health services.