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PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY APRIL 28, 1982, WHITBY FREE PRESS w hitby Voice of the County Town Michael Ian Burgess, Publisher- Managing Edito The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents. rP blished every Wednesday by M.B.M. Publishing and Photography Inc. Phone 668-6111 The Free Press Building, 131 Brock Street North, P.O. Box 206, Whitby, Ont. MICHAEL J. KNELL Community Editor MARJORIE A. BURGESS Advertising Manager Second Clasa Mail Registration No. 5351 Since yesterday morning, about 130 members of the local branch of the Ontario Medical Asso- ciation (O.M.A.) have been off the job. And despite the fact that they have been responding to ail emergencies, they have literally been on strike. This week, they will have been on strike for two days (today and yesterday) and next week they will strike for three days in an effort to back up their demands for a new contract with the provincial government. The doctors' dispute with the government is probably the most significant labor relations problem to be faced by the citizens and taxpayers of Ontario in the last few years. Very rarely have so many issues been brought to bear on one set of contract negotiations. The most interesting discrepencies between the two partles has been the average doctor's I am indebted to a woman in Ottawa who called me recently to give me her perspective on the story involving General Motors and Iraq. I say I am indebted, because without her I wuld probably have responded to it in the usual Canadian way -- that is bywearing sackcloth and ashes again, and wallowing in our own presumed Can- adian mediocrity. I can't see into the Canadian mind of course, but I've spent nearly half a century in this country and l'm getting to know my fellow occupants fairly well. And I'd be willing to bet that most of us, when we read or heard the story, or saw it on television, said to ourselves the equivalent of; "Humph, nothing very surprising about that." We thought or even said things like: "wouidn't you know it, the damned UAW won't even talk to GM about freezing wages in exchange for job security, and now it turns out they can't even build a car which doesn't fall apart." Or if we are of the opposite persuasion, we said something like: "Bloody GM. Can't even design or execute a car that the Arabs would buy. No wonder the Japanese are cornering the car market. " How many of us said things like the lady from Ottawa. What she said in effect, was: "Wait a minute. I have a littie Chev that is the best car l've ever owned. I leave it out ail winter in a parking lot, and it starts every time I try it. Why oh why must we always knock ourselves and our products?" That isn't an exact quote but that's the gist of it, and whether she's right or not, three cheers for her. I have owned Fords, Chrysler products, and GM products, and I must admit V've had good service from ail of them. I have a GMC truck at the moment, which is one of the finest pieces of machinery I've ever had the pleasure of operat- ing. Why would 1, of ail people, when I first heard about the cancellation of GM's contract with Iraq, assume itwas really the cars that were wrong. And assuming they were wrong, why wouldn't I be charitable enough to admit that the best run companies, with the most willing work forces, can screw up from time to time. Why was it my instinct to assume that the Iraqi criticism was justified, that the clapped-out Malibus were just more proof of the bank- ruptcy of our way of life. l'Il tell you why. It's because in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, until death do us part, I am a Canadian, and only now and then, when I cone to my senses, am I proud of it. That's not news, but that too is reality. salary claimed by each. According to the Ministry of Health, the average doctor in Ontario earns between $85,000 and $100,000. According to the O.M.A., the average salary earned by a doctor is $65,000 ($51,000 for a general practitioner and $74,000 for a specialist). The O.M.A. further claims that its average salary represents a net figure. That ià, all office expen- ses (including salaries) have been deducted. The O.M.A. further claims that the average doctor's salary is actually lower than those quoted because each physician must pay for his own benefit package (including paid holidays, drug and dental plans, etc.) which are usually provided by the employer in most other industries. Benefits, they continue, usùally equal about 15 per cent of the earned salary bringing the average salary down to $55,250 per annum. Most doctors this publication have spoken to say they would be better off it they practised medicine in another province or worked in an en- tirely different profession. These doctors have said that they work an average of 60 hours a week. One even went so far as to say that he would be better off if he worked 60 hours a week on the line at General Motors. He pointed out that while he would'gain in salary he would not have half of the responsibility he now has. Most people probably don't realize that most doctors in Ontario are small businessmen. They offer a service for which they recelve a fee. They also have most of the headaches that accompany the operating of a small business. They have over- head expenses and salaries to pay. Yet, doctors are the only small business sector in Ontario that must enter into a collective agreement to esta- blish their fees for service, and is the member of the private sector to be paid almost entirely by a government program. They are the only members of the 'small business community that are regulated in this Consider both sides of coin in is uteswtOnaidoo manner. Recently, the government was criticized for not treating the O.M.A. in the same manner In which It treated the Canadian Union of Public Employees during the recent hospital strike. Well, we do not see how the government can do so. The workers who went on strike were employees of the hospitals and not independent businessmen such as the doctors. The O.M.A. has more in common with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business than it does with C.U.P.E. The only thing the O.M.A. has in common with C.U.P.E. is that both are bargaining agents for their respective members. The doctors have also claimed that if their dem- ands are not met by the government It could mean the deterioration of the public health care system in thid province. While we would dispute this in its entirety we do believe it has some merit. If we do not offer the doctors a better compen- sation package it is quite possible that many will leave Ontario for the greener pastures of other Canadian provinces and the United States. For example, doctors in the Province of Alberta are paid about $10 more per office visit than their counterparts here in Ontario. For $10 more per visit, what doctor would not be tempted ta go? This publication also realizes that many people will have difficulty in sympathizing with the wage demands of a group of people some of whom are already earning $65,000 a year. Let's face it, we need doctors. Doctors can aiso earn more money if they go elsewhere.' To keep doctors in OntarIo happy and prosperous we must offer them a similar package to what their colleagues in other provinces enjoy. After all, there is no measure of law that staes they must stay in Ontario and if we are true to our beliefs in human rights and the principles of free enterprise we must give them the opportunity to earn what they belleve they are worth. This is especially true when one considers that most doctors could earn what they do now in other professions that do not have the same responsibilities they must bear. Before we chastise the doctors perhaps we had better take á close look at the situation in which they find them- selves.