home | our local

QUEENS HOSPITAL DOCTORS RATIFY 3-YEAR
CONTRACT WITH MOUNT SINAI

 DOCTORS COUNCIL SECURES 10% INCREASE PLUS LUMP
SUM BOOSTS FOR DOCS

New York, NY: Today, Doctors Council announced that doctors employed at Queens Hospital Center in Jamaica, overwhelmingly ratified a new contract with the Mount Sinai School of Medicine [1], which employs doctors at the hospital.  The 3-year contract provides the 110 doctors at Queens Hospital Center with a 4% increase beginning July 1, 2003, a 3% increase beginning July 1, 2004 and another 3% increase beginning July 1, 2005.  In addition, doctors in the departments of ambulatory care, medicine, pediatrics and psychiatry will be receiving lump sum amounts added to their salaries, ranging from $1,000 to $12,000.

 “We are very pleased this contract both increases salaries and implements new policies that aid retention of experienced physicians,” said Barry Liebowitz, M.D., President of Doctors Council.  “Under the new contract, whenever the hospital hires a new doctor whose salary exceeds that of an incumbent doctor with comparable qualifications, the incumbent doctor’s salary will be raised to the level of the new hire.  This provision will help retain experienced physicians to provide better healthcare to the residents of Queens.”

 This is the first contract with Queens Hospital Center negotiated by Doctors Council.

 Other contract highlights include: 

• A new clause that allows doctors to obtain outside employment without expressed permission from the employer which was not permitted under the prior contract.
• A longevity clause that compensates doctors with ten years of service with an additional two days of vacation time.
• The implementation of a Labor Management Committee which will be comprised of doctors and management and will meet at least every other month to discuss employment issues.

Doctors Council, an organization of doctors, by doctors, and for doctors, is the nation's oldest and largest union of attending physicians in the United States, with over 3,700 members in the New York Metropolitan Area.  On March 1, 1999 Doctors Council affiliated with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).  As part of the affiliation, Doctors Council partnered with two of SEIU’s locals, the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR) and the United Salaried Physicians and Dentists (USPD) to create the National Doctors Alliance.                               

The National Doctors Alliance has a membership of over 16,000 members nationwide. and its major functions are to address issues of common concern for doctors, and to determine the best and most efficient course of action for organizing new members here and around the country.

##