Are Public Jobs Immune To The Economy?
- Shäman Cröwe
- Mar 1, 2020
- 3 min read
Recently Alberta doctors and healthcare workers have been vocal in their opposition of the United Conservative Party's proposed changes to the master agreement and funding proposals but are public sector jobs immune to economics? How do taxpayer's supposed to take a pay cut while giving more to services?
Calgary ER doctor Shawn Dowling, left, and Stettler physician J.B. Lombaard, right.
(Monty Kruger/CBC/J.B. Lombaard)
A recent CBC article titled Dozens Of Calgary Emergency Room Doctors Speak Out Against Cuts (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-doctors-tara-jago-cathryn-zapf-billing-jb-lombaard-1.5479129) detailed the concerns that doctors across the province have regarding the government terminating the current master agreement and introducing new rules for physicians and healthcare workers.
In some cases the concerns the doctors have are with merit but some concerns are unfounded and borderline fear-mongering. As far as Dr. Lombard is concerned if he has to feel rewarded monetarily for something that many find to be it's own reward (ie: helping people, etc.) then perhaps he is in the wrong profession.
Furthermore, Stettler could do with a dedicated ER doctor anyway. The rotational if-I-want-to-do-it system we have now is a bit of a farce.
Like any job you should know what you can expect as far as a wage but healthcare and education seem to constantly be complaining about how much they are paid and how much they work. Truth is teachers put in less time at school now than anytime in the past and are paid the highest they have ever been, especially in Alberta.
Doctor's aren't much different - Alberta's doctors are the top paid in the nation and will continue to be after the the master agreement is dissolved. So outside of refusing work, where are they going to find a wage comparable without leaving the country?
Being able to add a $60-80 charge to taxpayers simply because an appointment took longer than ten minutes is ridiculous, especially when appointments are triple booked typically and effective care should not be contingent on a time limit. Some cases will be quick, some not so much and although time is worth something it shouldn't be used as a multiplier in any event. Isn't that what a salary is about to begin with?
Trim the fat (doctors we all know should not be working in Stettler in the first place - not naming and shaming, Stettlerites all know who I am talking about) and we could afford to supplement the remaining doctors' salaries with their wage. Should we need more doctors then the current doctors might need to help create the incentive necessary to attract them.
Stettler spent thousands of dollars and offered a large incentive package to attract Agwazi to Stettler, was it worth it? There would people on both side of that argument for sure.
Politicians, healthcare workers and teachers seem to be the only people that think that they are immune to economics and that their wages should constantly increase even if everyone else's wages are being negatively effected. If the population has less to spend how are we supposed to provide the taxes required to keep the wages growing in the public sector? Where does the money come from??
There has been/is a huge mishandling of taxpayer funds in the healthcare file that has created an unsustainable system that must be corrected. If the healthcare department won't/isn't addressing it then they can only expect that sooner or later the government will.
Shrink administration and increase front-line staff, curb multipliers and additional charges, and let professionals that don't want to go along find work elsewhere while replacing them with someone who does. These are concrete steps that can be taken to address the issue while increasing care.
Right now in the oil patch consultants that once worked for $1500/day are lucky to see $750 at most. What makes public employees who depend on the taxes from that same consultant's income think they are immune from pay cuts?
If it can happen to you, it can happen to them.
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