Members: What are your priorities for Physician Master Agreement negotiations starting this year?

Negotiations for the 2022 Physician Master Agreement (PMA) begin this year. As an initial step, we want to ensure we understand our physician members’ priorities and will use this information to help inform our position. A survey of members has already taken place, and we now are reaching out via two webinars for a more fulsome discussion. Doctors of BC’s Chief Negotiator, Mr Paul Straszak, is hosting these webinar sessions for members on January 12^th and January 13^th in which he will review the PMA process, collect feedback, and answer your questions. To register, please click on one of these links.

How does the negotiations process work?

Members often ask us this question. After the feedback from members is collected and analyzed to find general themes and priorities, the Negotiations team collates the information and develops the first draft negotiations plan. Included in this plan is consideration of the current environment including economic indicators, other provincial settlements, government and Ministry priorities, and our Strategic Plan. Once the draft plan is developed, it is further reviewed and revised by a number of internal Doctors of BC committees comprised of physicians who are responsible for carrying out the negotiations as well as physicians who don’t attend the negotiations, but who represent the broad range of practices across BC to ensure we represent the collective interests of our members. Finally, a completed draft negotiations plan is presented to the Board for approval. Endorsement by the Board signals the start of negotiations with government. The Statutory Negotiating Committee carries out the negotiations, along with our Chief Negotiator and his team who are also members of the committee. It is generally agreed by both parties that at this stage a communications/media black out is implemented on the details of the negotiations – this protects our position. Once a tentative settlement is agreed to by both parties, the Board again reviews the settlement, and once endorsed it will go out to all members for ratification. The timeline from start to finish can vary greatly depending on the various positions, which is why we start the process more than a year in advance.

More information on the process can be found on our webpage: Physician Master Agreement - How Negotiations Works