19/05/2021
Press Release 20th December, 2018
On 17th December, 2018, the junior doctors of The Bahamas voted to strike against the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) due to their inability to negotiate acceptable terms regarding the issue of holiday pay.
Junior physicians in The Bahamas have NEVER been paid double time for holidays, as is mandated by the Employment Act. Since 2010, the Bahamas Doctor’s Union has taken part in multiple negotiations with the PHA and has filed two disputes with the Industrial Tribunal in an attempt to resolve this egregious injustice, all to no avail. We were even privileged to have a sit down with the Prime Minister who assured us that a meeting would be arranged to table this issue. To our disappointment, the PM failed to honor this promise.
Most recently, the BDU met with the Minister of Health and a decision was made to return to the negotiation table with PHA to resolve the issue in a timely manner. However, as we have applied for a strike certificate, this is still a viable option in the event that negotiations fail.
PHA management offered to pay a lump sum that worked out to be an hourly rate of $1.80/hr for working on holidays. This offer, which is far below minimum wage, is what the Minister referred to as “generous”.
The PHA has also refused to honor the time keeping system that they agreed to under the leadership of the former Managing Director, and as such, there is currently no agreed upon means of determining hours worked on holidays moving forward. PHA has no individual contracts with physicians and the unilateral decision to implement swiping as a means of timekeeping in not supported by law as it goes against our Industrial Agreement.
The $80,000 compensation package for junior doctors that PHA management submitted to the Minister is GROSSLY inaccurate as the net pay of a junior physician is closer to some $30,000 less. We note that the quoted figure included duplicate items such as pay for sick leave, vacation and casual days, which are already allotted for in the base salary.
In closing, the Minister has since acknowledged that his statements questioning the professionalism of junior doctors were unfair. We view this as a positive step toward amicable negotiations.
Bahamas Doctor’s Union
![https://www.facebook.com/781409951916003/photos/a.896638087059855/2370783482978634/?__cft__[0]=AZVf-RwwfvUAE3wl9C6IJbSR7...](https://img4.findhealthclinics.com/451/616/270523394516161.jpg)
