Doctors anxious to receive disbursements after IDT award

Industrial Relations Consultant Lambert Brown says the doctors involved in the matter are eager for the government to implement the award of the Industrial Disputes Tribunal relating to their overtime rate 

The IDT on Monday handed down its long awaited ruling in the dispute between members of the Jamaica Medical Doctors Association (JMDA) and the government, siding with the doctors in a 2-1 decision.

The JMDA had  proposed a rate that would see them receiving $31 billion while the government had estimated that the rate would have cost $104 billion.

The ruling covers the period April 1 2023 to the present. 

The doctors have been receiving overtime payment at 2021 rates. 

Senator Brown says he is looking forward to a speedy resolution of the issue:

“ I'm just simply happy for the award, and I look forward to meeting with the government and the doctors and the government to see how we can implement it,” he said on Radio Jamaica’s Beyond the Headlines.

He added that he was prepared to caution the doctors against asking for the full payment of the award at once, confirming that “ we're prepared to discuss payment in tranches.”

Mr Brown is encouraging the government not to challenge the ruling or the matter of the incentive allowance which was a sticking point for the lone dissent.

“We will be ready to meet such (a) challenge at the leave stage of judicial review and if leave is granted thereafter, but for now, we would urge the government that, even if they were able to challenge successfully, it would be a pyrrhic victory because we'll be coming back to fight that issue of the incentive allowance,” he declared. 

Instead, he’s urging the government to “ let's not add to the forty-two months by trying to challenge this matter in court. It makes no sense.”

JMDA President Dr Jubilee Brown Service also defended the industrial action the doctors took last week.

The doctors went on strike on Friday to press the IDT to fast track the delivery of its ruling. 

The IDT had heard the last piece of evidence in the impasse relating to over time rates in April, leading to growing frustration among the doctors. 

Dr Brown Service maintains that the protest action was the correct move.

“We feel validated because we know that we were acting upon our rights, and I'm happy to see that this has been the outcome. There would be members of the public that would have disagreed with our action, and the JMDA will always welcome constructive and objective criticism. So that's fine. They held their opinions, and we maintained our position and our stance on the matter.”