“South Canterbury Senior Doctors Strike To Continue For A Second Day”

“The strike action undertaken by senior doctors employed by the South Canterbury District Health Board will continue for a second day on Tuesday 11 February,” said Mr Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, today. The strike is the second of five 6-hour strikes focussed on non-emergency services such as operating lists and clinics. The first strike was held on 3 February and led to a cancellation of non-emergency services on that day.

“Management in the name of the Board are continuing to ignore the need to adequately and fairly compensate for the high workload pressure and stress that senior doctors are subjected to. The longer the breakdown in negotiations continues, the greater the determination of senior doctors to address this unfairness.”

“We have advised the mediator that we might be willing to compromise on our position and would return to mediation if management was also willing to do so. Unfortunately we have been informed that management on behalf of the Board is not prepared to make a similar move. This is deplorable given that the difference between us is around $4,000 per senior doctor and much less than what the extra staffing management claims it wants to provide.”

“The Board should note that if management on their behalf was also prepared to compromise, senior doctors would be into mediation quicker than the Board’s chief executive could say ‘I promise not to misrepresent the facts about the negotiations again’,” concluded Mr Powell.

Ian Powell EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

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