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This article was published 15/1/2019 (612 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba's nearly 3,000 doctors will have to do their part to help the province overcome a stubbornly high operating deficit, Health Minister Cameron Friesen says.

A four-year contract between the province and Doctors Manitoba, the physicians' bargaining agent, is set to expire March 31.

Friesen told the Free Press Tuesday doctors will be expected to abide by a government policy that all public-sector workers undergo pay freezes for two years, followed by increases no greater than 0.75 per cent in the third year and one per cent in Year 4 of any collective agreement.

The legislative assembly passed Bill 28 to implement the government's public-sector pay regime in 2017. Doctors were included within the provisions of the bill. But the Progressive Conservatives have yet to proclaim it, so it is not yet law.

A coalition of 25 labour unions — not including Doctors Manitoba — is fighting the bill in the courts. A hearing is set to begin in November.

"Clearly, Manitobans understand that we cannot sustain a half-billion (dollar) deficit. There’s no confidence in a system that does that. So we’ll continue down this path because it’s the right one for all Manitobans," Friesen said.

"Doctors know full well that they are not exempt from these provisions."

The government is looking forward to "respectful engagements with Doctors Manitoba" in the coming months, he added.

Theresa Oswald, chief executive officer of Doctors Manitoba, refused to comment on the minister's remarks.

This year promises to be an eventful one in public-sector bargaining.

The more than 12,000 nurses represented by the Manitoba Nurses Union have been working without a contract since March 2017. The MNU says talks have yet to begin.

Contract talks with thousands of health-care workers are stalled because the province is in the process of forcing unions to reduce the number of collective bargaining units within the system.

Meanwhile, the contract between the province and its civil servants, represented by the Manitoba Government and General Employees Union, expires March 29.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca