ASMS Direct - Issue 2010-13
13 September 2010
Dear Member
We welcome any feedback on the contents of the 13th issue for 2010 of ASMS Direct, our national electronic publication.
As noted in the previous ASMS Direct the ASMS homepage www.asms.org.nz has recently been revamped placing greater importance on presenting latest news and articles about significant health sector issues. We have now also added an RSS feed to the homepage to make it easier for members to receive latest news items without having to visit the website to check for new additions. All you need do is ‘click’ on the RSS feed icon on the homepage and subscribe to that ‘feed’.
The subscription ‘window’ will ask you to name the file for that information ‘feed’ to load to and will give you the option to have this added to your favourites toolbar (recommended as this makes the items very easy to access). Full instructions are available from that window and if it is the first time you have subscribed to an RSS feed it would pay to look at those. Once you have subscribed the RSS feed will automatically check for new items added to the ASMS “Latest News & Reports” column and allow you to view those in your named folder rather than having to go to the ASMS website to look.
This copy of ASMS Direct focuses on:
1. ASMS and DHBs agree on ‘holding pattern’ in national MECA negotiations
2. The ‘Business Case’
3. Why 2%? Why 31 January 2011?
4. Protecting New Appointees: Post 30 April 2011
5. Joint ASMS-DHBs media statement on ‘holding pattern’
1. ASMS and DHBs agree on ‘holding pattern’ in national MECA negotiations
A significant development has occurred in our national DHB collective agreement (MECA) negotiations with the DHBs. To a very large extent this development is a logical consequence of the four joint ASMS-DHBs workshops we held as part of the negotiations. The 20 chief executives have approved the ‘holding pattern’ on behalf of the DHBs while the National Executive approved it on behalf of the ASMS, following much careful consideration and debate, with a unanimous decision at its meeting on 10 September.
The main features of this development, which we have described as a ‘holding pattern’, are:
· The ASMS and DHBs will prepare a ‘business case’ timed to fit in with the government’s budget cycle.
· The current MECA is not settled but will be ‘varied’ to include a 2% salary increase effective from 31 January 2011 and some other minor improvements that have already been agreed.
· Negotiations over the current MECA will resume on the financial elements including remuneration once the outcome of the business case is known.
· In the event that full agreement has not been reached by 30 April 2011 (12 months after the expiry of the current MECA) when the protection under the Employment Relations Act ends, the DHBs will continue to offer the MECA to new appointees (those currently employed on the MECA continue to be covered by it until a replacement is negotiated).
The above points are discussed briefly further below. There will be a more substantial report in the ASMS’s Bargaining Bulletin publication which will be mailed out to all DHB employed members this week. Further information on the ‘holding pattern’ is also available on the ASMS website www.asms.org.nz.
The ASMS negotiating team does not know whether the path we have embarked on will succeed or not. But I am confident that this path is the most effective means we have of achieving a satisfactory outcome compared with other options, at least at this point in time. Further, it does not preclude the taking of other options next year if the ‘holding pattern’ does not deliver.
2. The ‘Business Case’
During our four preceding workshops, in marked contrast with previous years, a considerable amount of common ground emerged between the ASMS and DHB representatives. In recognition of the very tight financial and decision-making constraints that the government has imposed upon DHBs in collective negotiations, it became evident during this workshop discussion that there was merit in a joint approach to government.
Consequently, in subsequent post-workshop discussions with the DHBs, we agreed to embark upon the preparation of a business case to fit in with the government’s budget cycle for the 2011-12 financial year. The business case will look to better inform the parties (ie, DHBs and ASMS) and government on the actual recruitment and retention of senior medical staff in DHBs, particularly in the context of the government’s health policy objectives. Logically it will consider why the government should invest as one of its main health priorities in senior doctors, including remuneration, in order to achieve its objectives.
The writing of the business case will be overseen by a joint ASMS-DHBs steering group which will hold its first meeting on 14 September. In order to fit in with the government’s budget cycle, ‘best endeavours’ will be made to complete the business case by the end of October. It is hoped that the outcome of the business case will be known immediately prior to Christmas. Negotiations will continue in the meantime but not on the issues affected by the business case; particularly salaries, superannuation, after-hours remuneration, and CME expenses. Once the outcome of the business case is known then negotiations will focus on these matters.
3. Why 2%? Why 31 January 2011?
Through a legal mechanism under the Employment Relations Act called a ‘variation’, collective agreements such as our current MECA can be amended by agreement between the employer and union parties while still in force and before the conclusion of negotiations. We have done this by increasing current salaries by 2% on 1 February 2011 along with some other minor improvements (largely non-fiscal) that the ASMS and DHBs have already agreed upon.
Why this amount and why this date? From the ASMS standpoint it involves respecting the position taken by unions representing over 75% of the DHBs workforce (NZ Nurses Organisation, Public Service Association, and Service & Food Workers Union). In response to the government’s financial squeeze on DHBs they agreed in what is called a ‘national terms of settlement’ (NTOS) for a 2% salary increase taking effect nine months after the expiry date of the various collective agreements negotiated by these three unions. With the SMO MECA expiring on 30 April 2010, nine months takes us through to 31 January 2011.
A further factor is that the government has instructed state sector employers (including DHBs) not to agree to any back-dating of any salary increases. Given that it was virtually certain that negotiations would continue beyond the end of January, this seemed to be a pragmatic response.
What the National Executive has decided essentially is a balance between respecting the position of other DHB employees and both keeping alive and increasing the traction of our negotiations in which the ASMS is seeking to address the specialist recruitment and retention crisis in DHBs.
4. Protecting New Appointees: Post 30 April 2011
The current MECA expired on 30 April 2010. Under the Employment Relations Act, DHBs are required to offer the expired MECA to new appointees for a further 12 months (ie, to 30 April 2011) while negotiations are still underway. In other words, there is a ‘statutory extension’ to the MECA in its application to new appointees for up to 12 months after the formal expiry.
There is a provision in the MECA which is ambiguous in terms of whether this obligation to offer the MECA to new employees continues beyond this ‘statutory extension’ (ie, continues from 1 May 2011 onwards) should negotiations still be going on. However, the DHBs and ASMS have agreed upon a ‘letter of undertaking’ from the DHBs to us confirming that the DHBs will continue to offer the MECA to new appointees after 30 April 2011 in the event that negotiations are still continuing.
5. Joint ASMS-DHBs media statement on ‘holding pattern’
Below is a joint media statement released today by the ASMS and the DHBs. The DHBs’ spokesperson Karen Roach is the Northland Chief Executive and chairs the DHBs’ national employment relations strategy group.
“Senior doctors and the 20 district health boards have agreed upon an innovative ‘holding pattern’ in the their negotiations for a national collective agreement,” said Mr Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, and Ms Karen Roach, spokesperson for the 20 DHBs, today.
“In recognition of the importance of senior doctors to the achievement of key government objectives in the health system and to assist with senior doctor recruitment and retention in public hospitals, we have agreed to work on a joint business case, which will include remuneration, to better inform both ourselves and government. Best endeavours will be made to complete this by the end of October. Once the outcome of the business case is known we will return to negotiations.”
“In the meantime we have agreed to vary the current collective agreement by increasing current senior doctor salaries by 2% effective from 31 January 2011 along with other minor improvements. This is consistent with the agreement for much of the rest of the DHBs’ workforce, including nurses, allied health professionals, clerical staff, cleaners and caterers, which recognise the difficult financial circumstances facing the sector.”
“Both the ASMS and DHBs recognise that senior doctors provide expertise, leadership, mentoring and training, and are critical to the delivery of top quality health services to patients and communities.”
“Following on from the four constructive workshops we have held, we have adopted an innovative approach that combines the need to address the heavy financial constraint facing the public health system and the serious recruitment and retention situation in the senior doctor workforce,” concluded Ms Roach and Mr Powell.
Kind regards
Ian Powell
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
