THURSDAY. JULY 26'. 1962
e t um muum Behind the News muumuu=
Bargaining Ends Doctors' Strike
, .
' Strikes have become- a fa-
~
mills!' business in our society.
I Union strike forihigher wages
s ands 1 , ng range fringe benefits.
g Workers in unsettled countries ;
strike in protest of a new goy,
emment. However, strikes by
profeasionals have been quite
~ uncommon. I
E Therefore, when the 625
• 2., practicing doctors of Saskatche
-1
wan province in Canada went ,
.qn strike in-protest of a medi- -
!care act, the I world watched in -
1 i
awe. Some !called the strike I
heroic in that the doctors were
standing up' for; their princi-
Iples4 Some ,called the strike
immOral because the doctors
„left I the province with only:
:
called
y e
stiariCes.
undemocratic,An And some
because the: doctors were de
fying a law duly', passed by the ,
E Saskatchewan legislature.
a All thele vie Ws were loudly
I voiced as the I 23 -day strike -
-g- droned on. Some people dem- -.
E' onstrated to• "Keep Our Doc
tors'," while 'others wrote
threatening letters to both
striking , Aloctora and govern
ment o ff icials. I , •
m Nam* Calling Flourished ,
E Also under threat were the.'
g handful of Saskatchewan doe-:
E. - torn who "agreedito practice un
der; the new gimernment act. ,
E These= "scabs" las they ars!
.g called in other
.strikes were
-a
.hanging in. the
_middle and ru-'
mots of retaliation threats
I'made by striking doctors ran'
high. " I .
Although, the; strike was ,
called by the I Saskatchewan,
College of Physicians .and Sur--,
•getins, the me dical association
a • of the province, it had' all the
name calling and. threats on
Iboth sides that characterize
mist labor union strikes. The
E doetors voiced! views that the
goVernment couldn't be trusted
land - that it was autocratic and
unfair. The government spokes
men said that the doctors were
E defying the law- passed by
~_ elected officials. Both held
,their ground .) The doctors
a wanted' the law suspended and
• the `"government refused.
. The compulsory medical act-
E put into e ff ect, on 'July 1 pro
.vides payment, for most medi
cal services for , alniost all of
the province's citizens Accord
ing, to the plan, a gltvertunent
cdmmission would decide how
the. doctors would be paid arid
Picket 'Line
.;
,
By JOAN MEHAN
Associate Editor
how much they would get. ,The
act also gives the commission
the power to decide the terms
and conditions under which
the doctors would work. • Sas
katchewin's premier, Wood
row S., , Lloyd, said that the
government has the right to
assume this power since most
of the $2l million a year need
ed to finance the plan is• met
by taxes.
Emergency Care
However, the college refused
to accept the law. The doctors
set up free emergency medical
stations manned by about 200
doctors and 'discontinued nor
mal practice. The college offi
cials said •that_ the stations
were adequate to take care of
the medical needs of the
928,000 provincial citizens. The
government said they were not
and started to recruit doctors,
primarily from Great Britain,
to man free governinent clinics.
This only added more fuel to
the fire and the deadlock con
tinued.
The college refused medi
ation saying that it wanted to
deal directly with the govern
ment. The government offi
cials said that they would take
the doctor's objections into ac
count in drafting new legisla
tion if the doctors would go
back to work. The college, how
ever, was leery of accepting
this promise. When the origi
nal socialized medicine pro
posals were drawn up,, the ob
jections of the three doctors on
the 12-man committee were ig
nored by the government, al
though the then premier, T. C.
Douglas, had promised that the
program would' be "acceptable
both to those providing the
service and those receiving 'it."
The government stood firm on
-its offer and the college still
demanded suspension of the
act before the doctors would
resume .their duties.. Many doc
tors took holidays, left the
province permanently or
looked around for positions
outside Saskatchewan.
Taylor Mediates Dispute
The key step in breaking the
deadlock came when the gov
ernment imported Britain's
Lord Taylor, who was instru
mental. in establishing the Brit
ish National Health Service.
Brought in as a government
advisor, Taylor found himself
as the mediator between the
illlNWlßMiliffiffMllllllllllllllll.
SUMMER COLLEGIAN. UNIVERSITY PARK. PE
opposing parties.
Through a few days of col- a
lective bargaining, Taylor E
finally Managed to negotiate an a:
agreement and put an end to g.
the strike. The plan calls for:
_E
•An increase in the size of
the Medical Care Commission E
from: seven members to ten to
provide teats for three more
doctors on the commission. E.-
This 'would give the doctors and E-7.
laymen equal representation. §
*Allowance for doctors to E._
practice either under or out
side
the medical care act.
•Continuation of the pri
vate health insurance plans E.
that now cover about two
thirds of Saskatchewan's resi- 3
dents. The - government will
subsidize these plans by allow
ing residents to pay premiums
directly to the private plans 3
rather than to the government E
and, by' paying claims to the E
plans.
•An agreement to negotiate, F_.l
mediate or arbitrate any • dis
putes arising in future years
over fee schedules. • g'
• Adoption of amendments
to the medicare act reducing
the powers powers of the commission
which administers the act. E'
The government agreed to
Sall the legislature into special ,
session to amend the act to E.
meet the doctor's main objec
tions and the college is now at- B
tempting to call back the doc
tors who are out of the prov
ince. In about a week Sas- A
katchewan will have its doc- El
tors . back.
Reversit of U.S.
However, , this strike should
_.-not be taken lightly. A profes
' sional group that does not I
usually get involved in the
messy business of politics got
into the thick of it and struck
to have. its voice heard. In
Canada where lobbying is a s t
dirty word, this group hasn't Bti
had much voice in government =I
but in this instance it certainly El
made its presence felt.
In the United States the first SI
step in a medicare program— N,
medical aid for the aged-:-was
recently defeated' by the Con- p a
gress. However, we have many 6 ,
lobbying groups, such as the RI
American Medical Association,
which effect our legislation. E
The procedure in Saskatche
wan seems somewhat reversed. g ,
The doctors there acted after
the act was passed, - E I
\
z - , e
.14Ni
•"!!'
= (Continued from page one)
• meeting. -
IN THE OTHER case, a 7th term
E_- - :student in engineering was plated
• on suspended suspension until the
a' end of the fall term this year for
= exploding firecrackers outside a
.F.. - - - .residence hall July 5.
E-1 A counselor in the area observed
= s the "suspicious actions" of - the
student and reported the incident.
NSYLVANIA
Miller Honored for Contributions
By Institute of Arts and'iders
E. Willard Miller, head of the
Department of Geography, was
elected a fellow member by the
International Institute of Arts and
Letters earlier this year for his
international contributions in the
field of arts and letters. _
The institute, consisting of 1,760
members, aims to }promote world
wide cooperation in cultivating
and contributing to arts, letters
and sciences for human progress.
Th e honorary organization.
which has its headquarters in
Switzerland, publishes books and
intellectual magazines and creates
museum displays.
MILLER has worked at the Uni
versity since 1945. In addition, he
has written several magazine arti
cles and is editor of the magazine
"Global Geography" and co-editor
of "The World's Nations: An Eco
nomic and -- Regional Geography."
Miller is also president of the
SPEECH
Dr. Robert F. Schmalz -
"The Origin of Life" '
THURSDAY, JULY 26
NUB Assembly Room
7:00 - 8:30
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. BEHIND WESLEY FOUNDATION 3
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.. -4 - Satutday, July 2 8. z
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Antiques— /2 price . 3-
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Sponsored by the Wesley Foundation -
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIC
__ ..
Latest PAPERBACKS in Stocks
Vandarwerf ... ACIDS. BASES. and the CHEMISTRY
of th. COVALENT BOND
Kieffer ... THE MOLE CONCEPT IN CHEMISTRY
Staler . . . CHEMISTRY IN NON-AQUEOUS
SOLVENTS
Wormser ... THE STORY OF THE LAW
Walker ... JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
Bronawski . . . WESTERN INTELLECTUAL
_ TRADITION
Stekel . . . COMPULSION AND DOUBT
Calker . 0 PIONEERS!!
Graftnan . FOLK MUSIC. U. S. A. '
PENGUIN POETS RIMB AUD • •
KEELER f s ,THE UNIVOLSITY BOOKSTORE
S" THE
E. Coll•ge Avows
Pennsylvania Council for Geo
graphy Education. He was presi
dent of the American Society for
Professional Geographers an d
head, of the Penn State chapter of
the American Association of. Uni
versity Professors.
Miller was chosen for ltfe-time
membership along with 23 other
4mericans, such as William Stein
berg, director of the Pittsburgh
Symphony Society, Aldous Hux
ley. author of "BraVe New World."
Thorton Wilder, playwright of
'Our Town," and Walter G. Lang.'
sam, president of the University of
Cincinnati.
Ten Student Paintings
Selected far Awards
Ten paintings were selected by
two juries for awards at the ex
hibition of work by students of
Hobson Pittman which will con
tinue• through •Sunday in the
Hetzel Union gallery.
The professional jury, composed
of Francis E. Hyslop, Jr., profes
sor of history of art-and architec
ture, Paul EdmOnston, associate
professor of art education, and
Pittman, chose for honorable men
tion the works ,of David Smith.
Bedford; Daniel Butts 111, Pitts
burgh: June Crunick, York; and
Kenneth Kuhn, Altoona. Special
mention was made of a painting
by John Murphy, Poultriey. Vt.
PAGE FIVE