Before the doctors negotiations broke down as a result of the "specialists' revolt," the Ministry of Finance offered them a 38.5% pay hike to be implemented in stages over the next eight and a half years, "Yediot Ahronot" reported this morning.
According to the draft agreement that was rejected, a specialist working in central Israel who works seven duty shifts a month and 60 hours a week, would have received a 34% raise, from NIS 17,600 to NIS 24,000 a month. A specialist who works similar shifts and hours but works in a hospital in the periphery, would have received NIS 26,100 instead of NIS 18,000 a month, a 45% raise.
Specialists in fields that are short staffed, like anesthesiologists and internists, were offered a raise by the Ministry of Finance that was 5-7% higher than other specializations, with an emphasis on the periphery.
Senior doctors were offered an especially large salary raise. A department manager working in central Israel would have received a 25% raise, from NIS 31,300 to NIS 38,700. A department manager in the periphery's salary would have risen 33%, from NIS 34,100 to NIS 45,500. As previously reported, the offer for senior doctors included a mobile-phone activated time clock, a GPS-based location system, and the addition of 125 positions in peripheral areas.
The Ministry of Finance claimed that following the document's publication, the doctors' representatives accepted the draft in principle, except for their demand that the salary raise be higher (43.5%), with an additional 4.7% in the periphery. The doctors also insisted that the number of specialists working as service managers be 428 and not 214. The doctors' representatives declined to comment.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 3, 2011
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