Doctors Council SEIU Members
Ratify New 3 year Contract with TA,
Gaining over 16% in Raises
In September, members of Doctors Council SEIU employed at the Transit Authority (TA) ratified an excellent new contract with many gains, including over 16% in compounded pay increases.
The 3 year contract is retroactive to October 1, 2005, runs to October 6, 2008, and has raises of 3.25% on October 1, 2005, 2% on November 13, 2006, 4% on May 13, 2007 and 6.2097% on October 1, 2007. In addition, Longevity Differentials based on a doctor’s years of service were increased. Further gains include full coverage - at no cost to the Doctors Council SEIU member- under the Doctors Council SEIU Welfare Fund which offers excellent benefits such as dental, optical, hearing, psychiatric, tax-free health care cost reimbursement for out-of pocket medical expenses and co-pays, legal and much more. The contract also includes improved health and safety rights, an extra paid holiday as well as improvements in CME (Continuing Medical Education) rights such as time off and reimbursed expenses. The doctors are now eligible to contribute to the Deferred Compensation and 401(k) plans.
| Dr. Harold Appel, Contract Administrator (pictured left ), noted, "The effort we put in paid off in the end. The members were involved and had input throughout the process and our issues were heard and addressed by administration, who worked with us to reach this excellent new contract.” |
(From left to right) Dr. Harold Appel, Dr. Suzanne Lim, Dr. Adrienne Johnson (Delegate),
Dr. Stanley Donnenberg and Dr. Alexander Kisch of the Transit Authority (TA)
with 10.6% Increases
Doctors Council SEIU members employed by Columbia University won a new 3-year contract this summer with compounded wage increases of 10.6%. The raises are 3% retroactive to January 1, 2007, 3% on January 1, 2008 and 4.25% on January 1, 2009. Further gains include improvements to benefits, such as ensuring receiving full coverage based on our entire salary for our tax deferred annuity (TDA), long term disability and life insurance. Additional contributions to our Doctors Council Benefit Plan were gained, proving benefits to our members such as a free Executive annual physical, legal services, dental, optical and hearing coverage and tax free health care cost reimbursement for out of pocket medical expenses and co-pays. Improvements were made to the Academic Promotion process, ensuring a fairer objective and more expedited procedure. Vacation benefits were improved as well.
Our members’ involvement was key to our success. Doctors were ready, prepared and united 
speaking with one strong voice through Doctors Council. We sent bargaining surveys to all our members asking what they wanted to see bargained, had departmental meetings and membership meetings, and had a Bargaining Committee of doctors from every department and specialty. Our staff and attorneys helped prepare our proposals and were with us at every bargaining session. The attendance of doctors at each meeting at Harlem Hospital was tremendous and sent a message of our strength to our employer. We are stronger together when we speak as one through Doctors Council.
Doctors Council SEIU members at bargaining sessions
Preparing for Bargaining with Our negotiations for our next contract with Prison Health Services(PHS) will begin soon as our contract with PHS expires December 31st. Members are asked to fill out our Bargaining Survey and return it by October 10th. The purpose of the Bargaining Survey is to find out what each doctor would like to see addressed in the upcoming negotiations. The results of the Survey will be used by our Bargaining Committee to help draft our bargaining proposals and to prioritize our issues. You may return this Bargaining Survey by any of the following methods: 1) mail it back to our Doctors Council SEIU office in the free postage pre-paid envelope We will be having a General Membership Meeting on Wednesday, October 10, 2007, at 4:00 p.m. at Maric Lanes (19-45 49th Street, East Elmhurst, NY, NY 11105), and will review the returned Bargaining Surveys and our bargaining proposals to be presented to PHS. |
Bargaining at Rockland and Rutgers to Start
(l-r) Dr. Padilla and
Dr. Kouyoumbijan of Rockland CountyDoctors Council SEIU members employed in Rockland County will begin bargaining for our new contract in October. Members employed at Rutgers University in New Jersey will also start negotiations in October. Our members in Rockland County and Rutgers University have completed preparations for bargaining and ready to win a new contract. 
Dr. Igram of
Rutgers University
NYU comes to Woodhull Hospital and Cumberland D&TC
For the doctors employed at Woodhull Hospital and the Cumberland Diagnostic and Treatment center (D&TC), the employer was the Medical Associates of Woodhull, P.C. (Professional Corporation). The P.C. was in the process of becoming bankrupt and having no continued source of funding. Through Doctors Council SEIU, our members were protected when a new employer took over. New York University (NYU) is the new employer of the doctors as of August 1st. Every doctor was guaranteed in our contract to keep his or her job with a no layoff and no reduction in work hours clause.
 Woodhull Hospital Doctors (l-r) David Handwerker, M.D., Bonald Phillips, M.D. and Greg Amo, M.D. |
With the P.C. going out of business, the doctors could have lost their jobs, lost pension contributions and have had their salaries reduced if they were rehired at all with lower pay. Through Doctors Council SEIU, the doctors’ jobs were protected, all pension contributions were guaranteed, salaries were not lowered and in fact there was a compounded 9.27% wage increase over a 3-year contract with NYU. A difficult transition period with the P.C. going out of business and a new employer coming in was handled with our members protected.
Grievance and Arbitration Victories Bring Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars to our Members
“The language of our contracts is as important as the economics. We need good contract language to protect our members and our jobs, but we also need to enforce that contract through the grievance and arbitration procedure to ensure that the gains we make in bargaining are realized. The best way to guarantee that management is fully complying with our contract is by remaining vigilant, staying active in the affairs of your facility and regularly communicating with staff at Doctors Council. We need members to attend meetings and read newsletters and updates. We also need Representatives in each department and specialty. These victories illustrate the need for doctors to have a Union to advocate for doctors, and a Union that understands and specializes in issues unique to doctors and the medical profession. A Doctors Council contract advances and protects the pay, benefits and jobs of our doctors.”
Grievances and arbitrations are important tools in ensuring that our rights are protected and our hard-won contracts are honored. Recently, Doctors Council secured the jobs, pay and benefits of our members working in facilities throughout the region and collectively won hundreds of thousands for our doctors.
Doctors Council SEIU has been very successful in advocating on behalf of our membership. Here are just a few recent examples:
New York Medical College at Metropolitan Hospital
We had an arbitration involving New York Medical College’s failure to honor the contract we achieved in bargaining. Specifically at issue were Departmental/ Services salary minimum rates that were to be effective on November 1, 2005, for Cardiology, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Intensivists, Neurology, Radiology, Thoracic Surgery and Urology. New York Medical College refused to honor our contract and did not implement the salaries. We won as the Arbitrator awarded our relief in full so that the Doctors covered by the award will receive full back pay retroactive to November 1, 2005. The award ordered that this be done promptly. The raises and retroactive payments are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to our members. We successfully settled a grievance with the College on enforcing our new contract language for paid “free” days off tied to a doctors’ longevity (years of service) and our members here will be receiving these paid days off. We also successfully settled another grievance with New York Medical College for improper pay for a number of doctors and failing to properly administer our contract minimum salaries. Many doctors in different departments and specialties will now be receiving pay increases and retroactive payments, 
some as far back as January 1, 2006.
Together, we have had many victories at Metropolitan Hospital, whether in bargaining or through grievances. This most recent victory shows that when we stick together we can and do win and that we will fight to enforce our hard earned contract language. We will not allow any employer to fail to live up to its contractual agreements. This victory is important not only for the Doctors covered but also for all members as it enforces the integrity of our contract.
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
We successfully settled a grievance for a Doctor at Queens Hospital, resulting in a 13% wage increase and over $60,000.00 in back pay.
Doctors Council SEIU joins Community Groups in Celebrating Child Health Clinics 100th Year Anniversary |
Doctors Council SEIU has joined with twelve organizations, including the Commission on the Public Health System (CPHS), in planning an exciting year-long project to honor the 100th Year Anniversary of New York City's Child Health Clinics. The project includes organizing events and mobilizing groups in each borough, providing information about health insurance and "medical homes", and stressing the importance of ongoing comprehensive primary care services. There will be a survey of parents and youths about health seeking behavior and the development of a Child/Family Health Policy Agenda.
The 100 Years – Child Health Planning Committee is inviting your participation in a very exciting year-long project to celebrate the anniversary of the Child Health Clinics and develop a Child/Family Health Agenda for the city of New York. The Committee expects to fund borough-wide coalitions in each of the five boroughs that will be actively involved in all aspects of the year-long project. We are expecting to have all of the funds needed to select at least one Community-Based Organization (CBO) in each borough to work with the planning committee for the year.
The Community Coalition is aiming to organize a broad borough coalition to plan celebration events at the Child Health Clinics that will: focus on the clinics; offer information and ability to enroll children in public health insurance; promote primary and preventive health care; and promote the need for a “medical home” for children. We are also seeking to participate in the development of a Child/Family Health Policy Agenda that includes specific information and recommendations for communities in every your borough. Further, we want to administer a survey for parents/youth with questions about the design of the health care system, problems and gaps in services, and some additional information. Results of this survey will be published as a separate report and will also be incorporated in a Policy Agenda.
For more information, please visit http://www.cphsnyc.org/
Dr. Milagros Chua, a Doctors Council member, received the Marshall C. England Public Health Award from the Commission on the Public's Health System for dedicating 31 years to providing health services for children. Dr. Chua has worked in Child Health Clinics for over 3 decades. She is seeing her second
generation of children. Dr. Chua has specialized in asthma treatment and education and vigorously defends funding to keep community child health clinics open, getting over 1,000 signatures on a petition to protect needed funding for clinic services. Pictured to the right is Dr. Chua.
Doctors Council SEIU Members
Receive HAZMAT Training
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| (From left to right) Dr. Harold Appel, Dr. Gary Peters and Dr. Sandra McEachrane at HAZMAT training |
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Steve Schrag, SEIU HAZMAT Program Coordinator |
To Fight President Bush’s Plan to Cut Funding to Public Hospitals
nearly two million uninsured.
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Joining Speaker Quinn and Congressman Rangel (at podium) from Doctors Council is Dr. Harold |
In late January, Doctors Council joined with Speaker Christine Quinn, Congressman Charles Rangel, Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, other Council Members, HHC President Alan Aviles, Kenneth Raske, President of the Greater New York Hospital Association, as well as members of the health care industry and advocates at the City Hall press conference.
The City’s public hospitals already provide approximately $1.2 billion in charity care, of which $500 million is not reimbursed, to about 435,000 uninsured New Yorkers. Under the President’s cuts, the City’s hospitals could be forced either to continue to provide health care services to lower income New Yorkers without adequate reimbursement- and face dire fiscal consequences- or sharply reduce essential emergency care for New Yorkers. Read more about this vital issue and please visit http://www.nyccouncil.info/
In Testifying Before Bergen County Improvement Authority
| At a recent meeting in January, Doctors Council joined with other health care unions that represent nurses and other health care professionals of Bergen Regional Medical Center in New Jersey, in testifying before the Bergen County Improvement Authority (BCIA). The BCIA oversees the hospital and was holding a meeting to address concerns at the hospital. Doctors Council testified in support of patient care and staffing at Bergen Regional and expressed willingness to work collaboratively with the BCIA and Bergen Regional Medical Center, L.P. , which operates the hospital on a daily basis. |
Doctors Council Members Testify Before City Council
In mid-December, Doctors Council members testified before the New York City Council Committee on Health. Our doctors testified about ways to strengthen and improve the oral health care children receive in our schools. Dental care is essential to keeping our children healthy, focused in school and successful. As a result of our involvement, we are collaboratively working together with the City Council and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to bring the best possible oral health services to our school children.
From left to right: Dr. Leslie Joseph, Dr. Barry Liebowitz, President, Dr. Allen Gold,
Dr. Ayelet Yoles, Dr. Gary Peters and Dr. Frank Proscia, Executive Director
Doctors Council Successfully Settles Another Contract
This Time With the City of New York
A year of success after success in 2006 in winning excellent new contracts culminated in December for Doctors Council members employed by New York City in the Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) or Mayoral Agencies, such as the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). The contract covers July 1, 2005 to March 14, 2008 and includes the following:
Total rate increase = 10.95% for ALL Doctors Council members 1.3% wage increase for every member retroactive to July 1, 2004 (over 2 years, 5 months)
This increase derives from the preceding collective bargaining agreement, but was not
settled until this negotiation. 3.25% wage increase for every member retroactive to July 1, 2005 (over 1 year, 5 months) 2% wage increase for every member retroactive to August 13, 2006 (nearly 4 months) 4% wage increase for every member effective February 13, 2007 Increases in Differentials Increases in Longevity Increases in Annuity Fund Payments Patient Care Committee Process
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Members of our Doctors Council SEIU at our contract ratification meeting | Bargaining Committee members explain our new contract to Doctors Council SEIU members |
Doctors Council SEIU members voting YES for a new contract
These changes in medicine have occurred without the consent, much less the consultation, of doctors. Furthermore, these changes have placed doctors in the precarious position of bearing the responsibility for patient care with little or no authority over how to exercise it, causing frustration and a sense of helplessness among dedicated health professionals.
However, there is a solution.
The solution is DOCTORS COUNCIL SEIU.Doctors who never considered unionization in the past, now recognize that a union offers a vital mechanism to reassert control over the practice of medicine. In addition, a union provides doctors with a unified front to fight for their rights as well as the rights of their patients. Doctors from all clinical services have their concerns represented by advocates who understand medical issues as they directly affect doctors.
| Doctors Council SEIU members ratifying a union contract that addresses, advances and protects the benefits, compensation and working conditions of doctors. |
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