HALIFAX – Premier Stephen McNeil says Doctors Nova Scotia asked for a 55 per cent pay hike when the two sides first met at the bargaining table.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday evening, McNeil said demands like that are what is forcing the government to go ahead with legislation that would remove doctors’ right to arbitration.
“Its absolutely unconscionable that Doctors Nova Scotia would do so. I don’t believe doctors who are out practicing across the province even realized what their union was doing,” he said.
READ MORE: 75,000 public workers to see wages frozen for two years in new legislation
Doctors Nova Scotia called McNeil’s information “inaccurate” on Twitter. “What happened to negotiating in good faith? Disappointed yet again,” read one of the tweets.
A 55 per cent raise would have put doctors’ salaries ten per cent above the national average, said McNeil.
Bill 148 is moving through the legislative process and if it’s proclaimed, will impose a two-year wage freeze on 75,000 public sector workers followed by a three per cent increase over the subsequent two years. Doctors aren’t subject to the wage pattern that the bill would impose.
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