Record High For Senior Doctor Union Membership

MEDIA STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE,
FRIDAY 2 APRIL 2004

Record High For Senior Doctor Union Membership

''Senior doctor union membership has reached a record high,'' said Mr Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, today. Mr Powell was commenting on the Association’s annual membership return for the year ended 31 March 2004.

“Over the past 12 months our membership has increased by over 5% to our highest ever level of 2,335. This includes an estimated 92% of senior doctors employed by district health boards where the large majority work.”

“This is a heartening result that demonstrates the collective importance of unions for doctors as we face the challenges of difficult collective agreement negotiations and increasing frustration over the risk of internal corrosion in the public health system.”

“This record membership gives us more confidence to be both assertive and reasoned in our protracted and at times acrimonious national collective agreement negotiations with district health boards,” concluded Mr Powell.

Ian Powell
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

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