Health Minister Barbara Hogan lied when she said she already had the Occupational Specific Dispensation (OSD) proposal for doctors on hand, said the National Union of Public Service & Allied Workers (Nupsaw) on Friday.

General secretary Success Mataitsane said: "We are disappointed and disgusted that the Minister lied to us about already having the OSD proposal with salary structures and working conditions."

However, the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council said in a statement that an OSD proposal was tabled during the first negotiations meeting that took about two hours on Friday.

The council said the tabled proposal was for medical officers, medical specialists, dentists, dental specialists, pharmacologists, pharmacists and emergency care practitioners.

It also added that more documents would be given to the workers' representatives next week Tuesday before negotiations resumed on Wednesday and Thursday.

But Mataitsane, who attended the negotiations meeting, maintained that the OSD proposal was not presented and that only a proposal to change its implementation date was.

"She [Hogan] told us a proposal will be presented during the negotiations but nothing has been put forward, except a document that seeks to change the date of implementing the OSD from July 2008 to July 2009," he said.

Negotiations begin

The negotiations began in a bid to resolve doctors' grievances over pay and working conditions as well as to curb the professionals' strike that began last week at Dr George Mukhari Hospital in Pretoria.

The strike followed delays in implementing the OSD, which is an additional payment designed to make up for the poor pay and difficult working conditions faced by doctors in the public sector.

Mataitsane said since the OSD proposal was not presented that meant the doctors' strike would continue until their grievances were addressed as a matter of urgency.

"We have been playing this game since last year and they [department of health] seem to be casual about this issue," he said, amid incoming reports that doctors at three North West hospitals had also joined the strike.

The Department of Health was not available to immediately comment.

Meanwhile the Confederation of South African Workers’ Unions (Consawu) condemned "the manner" in which Hogan was handling the salary packages of doctors at state hospitals.

General secretary Khulile Nkushubana said the doctors' strike could have been averted if the promised OSD had been implemented on time.

Consawu condemnation

"Consawu was informed in 2008 that the OSD payable to the medical doctors had been spent by mistake and that the doctors had to wait for this error to be corrected."

Nkushubana said: "The striking doctors were now simply demanding what was agreed upon, [which was] better working conditions and improved salaries."

"Our young doctors are drowning in debt. It is time they were adequately compensated for their skills and knowledge," he said.

The SA Medical Association (Sama) also issued a statement formally distancing itself from the strike as it described it as "premature".

The association called on striking doctors to explain to the nation why they were still on strike when there were negotiations underway to resolve their problems.

Sapa

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