Yellowknife (June 04/03) - Salaray talks between physician specialists and the territorial government reached an impasse Tuesday when the doctors rejected binding arbitration as a way to end their contract dispute.

Michael Miltenberger

"We will not agree to binding arbitration, the process takes too long and we need to move quickly," Dr. Leonard Smith, a spokesman for the specialists, said Tuesday.

"We're willing to resume talks, but we're waiting for a sensible offer," Smith said.

Health Minister Michael Miltenberger issued a press release Tuesday that made some details of the negotiations public for the first time.

Miltenberger said specialists want a 57 per cent salary increase over two years. The government has offered 27 per cent.

According to the government's estimate, the total cost of its salary and benefit offer is $7.6 million at the end of two years, compared to the doctors' demand for a package that the government valued at $9.7 million. They are also far apart on time off. The government is offering 36 to 46 days of leave. The doctors were entitled to 56 to 61 days under the last contract and want that increased to 66 days.

Finance Minister Joe Handley said at a public meeting Monday night that the government proposed binding arbitration after the specialists rejected "a very generous offer.

"We offered them a lot more than the general practitioners, and more than they would make in a similar situation elsewhere, but we're still a couple of million dollars apart."

Twelve of 15 specialists have tendered letters of resignation, effective July 1, to back their demnands for a salary increase. They have been without a contract for more than a year.

Smith said Tuesday that the specialists are available to resume negotiations, but there is no date for another round of talks with the government.

The base salary for specialists in the Northwest Territories is $240,000 a year, and they have no overhead expenses, according to the government. By comparrison, a specialist in Alberta paid on a fee-for-service basis grosses an average of $197,566 a year before paying out 40 to 50 per cent of that in overhead expenses and taxes.

Handley said the government's offer would pay the specialists $100,000 a year more than they would earn if they were working in Fort St. John.

Salary scales for specialists working in the northeastern British Columbia community were accepted by both sides in the negotiations as a benchmark for a possible settlement.

Handley said that because of a nation wide shortage of medical professionals "people expect to negotiate a good deal for themselves."

Handley said the specialists pay package will have a ripple effect through the entire government payroll, just as the 12 per cent raise for general practitioners did.

Everyone from nurses to carpenters and file clerks will expect a raise, he said.