'TRUST MISPLACED'
Published Friday July 3rd, 2009
Health Doctors follow through on threat to go to court over wage freeze
FREDERICTON - It's official. New Brunswick doctors are taking the provincial government to court over a controversial two-year wage freeze.
Dr. Ludger Blier, president of the New Brunswick Medical Society, which represents the province's doctors, said Thursday the Graham government has "failed to live up to the commitment they made to New Brunswick physicians."
In December, the medical society and the province reached a four-year tentative wage agreement, which was ratified by the group's membership. But the province later scrapped the deal, citing dwindling government revenues.
The medical society filed a notice in Saint John last Friday regarding the government's rejection of that agreement.
Blier said the doctors have been forced to turn to the courts in an effort to salvage an agreement negotiated in good faith.
"We spent many days, weeks and months negotiating agreements on behalf of fee-for-service and salaried physicians that were signed off by both parties - the medical society and government," Blier said in a statement. "It is clear to us now that our trust was misplaced."
The Liberals insist the doctors must accept a wage freeze similar to all public service workers, civil servants and MLAs.
In June, legislation forcing a two-year wage freeze on the doctors was given royal assent in the legislature. The controversial bill now needs to be only officially proclaimed into law by the Liberals.
Newly appointed Health Minister Mary Schryer refused to comment on the situation on Thursday, saying the matter is before the courts.
Blier said Thursday his membership has no desire to enter into new talks with the government, due to the result of previous negotiations.
He said the government's conduct over the past several months will cause the province long-term damage, in particular to its efforts to recruit or keep physicians.
"While every other province in the country is recruiting doctors, New Brunswick is choosing to treat its doctors this way," he said.
Opposition leader David Alward says he is not surprised the Grits are being taken to court over the issue, considering their track record.
The Grits have recently been challenged over their attempt to scrap early French immersion in English-language schools and currently face a constitutional challenge over their decision to amalgamate the province's eight regional health authorities into two.
"This is the third time in a little more than a year," said Alward, the Progressive Conservative member for Woodstock.
"This should not be a surprise to anyone "¦ If we look at the trust that was broken by the premier, then for him to remain silent shows a lack of leadership."
The medical society, represented by the law firm Cox and Palmer, has a court date of Aug. 6.
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I don't think an employer should be expected to pay one cent to get trust or have the employees feel valued. I think the employees should feel valued by receiving their pay cheque and the fact they have a job to go to each day. The last thing an employer should be expected to do is pay more money so that it can earn the 'trust' of the employees.
It is almost like they think there is a magical piggybank somewhere that this all comes from.
These negotiations failed because the government was ignorant of its financial exposure to a economic crisis as they claim to be the case or they sat down to negotiate without having a clue as to what they where doing, something more probable to most NBer's.
So was this government acting in bad faith? I don't believe so. I believe the government displays incompetence and it is their incompetence that the doc's are mistaking as being bad faith.
The government itself admits to this incompetence when they claim to have been broadsided by a economic crisis not only occuring around them as they negotiated in December, but actually one that was forseeable in the U.S. housing bubble created by lending insanity.
Incompetence and bad faith are different things, the first speaks of mindlessness and irresponsibility, the latter speaks of intention. The government claims the first as their reason.