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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR- 343-04
December 09, 2004

MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG ANNOUNCES LABOR AGREEMENT WITH DOCTORS COUNCIL

Union Attains Substantial Productivity-Based Increases Plus $1,000 Lump Sum Over Three Years

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced today that a settlement has been ratified by the membership of the Doctors Council on an overall economic agreement on behalf of approximately 1,250 doctors employed in City agencies and the Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC). This agreement contain raises based upon productivity and is similar to the recently negotiated economic settlements previously reached with District Council 37 and eleven other unions representing over 138,000 City employees.  The Mayor was joined at the announcement by Dr. Barry Liebowitz, President of the Doctors Council and Office of Labor Relations Commissioner James F. Hanley.

“The members of the Doctors Council perform exacting and vital work under demanding conditions on behalf of New York City’s public health system,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “Doctors Council is the nation’s oldest and largest union of attending physicians and dentists in the United States.  We are pleased to have achieved a settlement that will provide substantial increases to the doctors employed by the City and HHC who, by agreeing to work the additional productive time, have shown their desire to generate savings that may be used to fund their contract.”
  
“The settlement is a very good contract that meets the unique needs of this group of professionals,” said Dr. Barry Liebowitz.  “We creatively managed the pattern for this round of bargaining by identifying alternative productivity funding mechanisms instead of reducing hiring rates or making other contractual modifications.”

The term of the agreement covers the period from July 1, 2002 through June 30, 2005. The principal features of this Agreement include:

  • A $1,000 lump sum cash payment payable upon ratification.

  • A 3% general wage increase effective on the first day of the 13th month of the contract.

  • A 1% compounded general wage increase effective on the first day of the 25th month of  the contract.

  • Effective February 1, 2005, productivity-based increases upon implementation of new work schedules will generate an additional 5.79% increase for members who work in HHC and a 6.2% increase for members who work in City agencies for certain full-time and    part-time per annum employees.  The raises are funded by adding 2-1/2 hours to the work week; the resulting full-time workweek will be 37-1/2 hours in the Mayoralty and 40 hours in HHC.

  • Primary Care Physicians, hourly employees, per session employees and per diem employees will receive the $1,000 lump sum cash payment and the 3% and 1% compounded increases only.  Since these employees will not be affected by the expanded work schedules, they will not receive the productivity-based increases.

  • The parties agreed to a labor-management committee to explore other productivity-based initiatives that may serve as the basis for an additional 1% wage increase. This provision is another component of the pattern settlements for this round of bargaining.

“This agreement demonstrates that significant salary increases can be achieved when Labor and the City work together,” concluded Mayor Bloomberg. “I want to congratulate Dr. Barry Liebowitz, for reaching this agreement and thank Deputy Mayor Marc V. Shaw, Health and Hospitals Corporation President Dr. Benjamin Chu, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden, Labor Commissioner James F. Hanley, First Deputy Labor Commissioner Pamela S. Silverblatt and their team for all of their efforts in reaching this agreement.”







MEDIA CONTACT:


Edward Skyler / Jordan Barowitz   (212) 788-2958




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