Senior Drs Vote For Unprecedented Stopwork Mtgs

Media Statement For Immediate Release,
friday 3 November 2006

“senior doctors overwhelmngly vote to hold unprecedented national stopwork meetings”

“Senior doctors have overwhelmingly voted to hold unprecedented national stopwork meetings if the impasse in their national collective agreement negotiations with district health boards continues,” said Mr Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, today.

Mr Powell was referring to resolutions adopted by the Association’s Annual Conference today which was attended by a record number of delegates. If the impasse continues these stopwork meetings are likely to be held next February.

“This unprecedented situation is directly due to the refusal of the district health boards to participate in genuine negotiations and instead stick to a predetermined rigid position which ignores New Zealand’s serious vulnerability to our ability to recruit and retain senior doctors. They are devaluing the professionalism of senior doctors and seeking to increase managerial control.”

“Senior doctors are appalled by the district health boards’ intransigent approach to these negotiations which threatens the ability of the public health system to provide accessible high quality patient care.”

“Whether the stopwork meetings proceed depends on whether district health boards come out their corner and recognise the essential contribution that senior doctors make to the health and care of patients,”concluded Mr Powell.

Ian Powell

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

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NATIONAL EXECUTIVE CONFERENCE REMITS FOR ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON NATIONAL DHB MECA NEGOTIATIONS

Remit 1

That Annual Conference condemns the DHBs current approach to re-negotiating the national DHB collective agreement (MECA). This approach threatens the ability of the public health system to provide accessible high quality patient care, because of the DHBs’:

* intransigence and refusal to negotiate genuinely;

* devaluing of the critical and central contribution of senior doctors and dentists;

* disregard for New Zealand’s vulnerability in the recruitment and retention of high quality senior doctors and dentists;

* attempts to increase managerial control; and

* devaluing of professionalism.

Remit 2

That, should the impasse in the re-negotiation of the national DHB collective agreement (MECA) continue, Annual Conference authorises the Association’s negotiating team to organise national stopwork meetings to consider appropriate means and forms of action for resolution.

ENDS

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