Medical residents and the Ministry of Finance last night signed an agreement in principle, after eleven days of intensive negotiations. The agreement will be submitted to the residents this morning, and the parties will meet at 2 pm. If the residents approve the deal as expected, it will be signed this evening.
Sources inform ''Globes'' that the main breakthrough came with the Ministry of Finance and the Israel Medical Association agreed to review the collective agreement, signed in August, with the doctors after 4.5 years, a concession to the senior doctors and residents' demand to shorten the nine-year agreement. If the parties agree on changes to the collective agreement, this will be considered as a new one.
The Ministry of Finance also agreed to the residents' demand for non-binding grants for additional work, although the parties still disagree on the amount of the grants and how they will be funded. The residents want NIS 150,000 for the entire residency period, but the final sum will likely be set at around NIS 90,000.
Part of the funding will come from the original sources set out in the collective agreement, and part will come from a NIS 150 million budget that Deputy Minister of Health Yaakov Litzman has promised for this purpose.
In exchange, the residents will agree not to leave the public health system for a period of time. The residents will receive one extra day of rest a week after a weekend shift, and will be compensated for working Fridays and will receive travel money when working weekends.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 6, 2011
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