Collective bargaining dispute in UK: Residents embark on four-day strike

Residents of England went on a four-day strike. Your union wants a 35 percent wage increase. The minister responsible spoke of the demand as “unreasonable”.

It is said to be the longest strike in the history of the British health system: assistant doctors in the public health system in England want to stop work for four days. According to the health service, 350,000 appointments and scheduled surgeries could be canceled during the strike.

Assistant doctors are asking for 35 percent more salary. They also complain about the need to catch up due to the epidemic and the lack of staff. This significantly increased his workload. Katrina Forsyth, a resident doctor outside St Thomas’ Hospital in London, said: “We’ve had massive (pay) cuts and we’re filling more gaps as people leave.” He warned that the patients’ situation was “less secure”.

Only £14 an hour?

The British Medical Association (BMA) is arguing that newly qualified medical staff should be paid just £14.09 an hour. The UK minimum wage is less than £10 an hour. According to the BMA, junior doctors have lost 26 per cent of their pay in real terms since 2008. The government dismissed the claims as non-payable.

Health Secretary Steve Farley said he hoped collective bargaining would officially begin in March, but called the pay demand “unfair”. For some doctors, the salary increase can be as much as 20,000 pounds (nearly 23,000 euros) a year. Farley said the union must “significantly” change its position and call off strikes so “we can resume secret negotiations”.

The National Health Service (NHS) is organized by the government in Great Britain and, unlike the German health system, is funded from taxes.

Strikes in many industries

Thousands of doctors across the UK went on strike for three days in March. In Great Britain, strikes have been ongoing in many sectors for months. Workers are often worried about strong wage increases, given high inflation and high energy prices. Apart from the health department, railways, post office and border police are also affected.

Last week, Barclays agreed a 5 percent pay rise with healthcare unions. Members are currently voting. However, the deal does not apply to junior doctors, who make up more than half of all doctors in the National Health Service (NHS). The latest strike is only taking place in England and will not affect the rest of the UK.