The lessons of striking doctors

Abstract

For two days (January 8th-10th 2001), 1,300 New Brunswick doctors were on strike, bitterly complaining about the government's pay offer; their working conditions; and the inadequate supply of physicians in the province. Hardly a crippling strike, the New Brunswick episode is nevertheless significant, it shows how angry and frustrated doctors can get, despite average incomes of $150,000 per year, when their status erodes, their paymasters appear stingy, and the media treat them less as independent and worthy professionals than grumpy claimants on the public purse who too often fail to police their own ranks.