Fatimah Otunsanya
Doctors in England walked out for the 15th time in just over three years on Tuesday in an increasingly bitter dispute with the government over pay and jobs.
The six-day stoppage by resident doctors — those below consultant level — comes after the doctors secured a 28.9 percent increase over three years following previous strikes.
The government and the resident doctors are deadlocked over the medics’ demand for a further big pay hike to compensate for what they say is a real-time loss of earnings due to inflation.
Health Minister Wes Streeting condemned the decision by the doctors’ union to reject the government’s latest offer of 4.9 percent amid an ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
Streeting told BBC television the doctors had been the “standout winners of the entire public sector workforce when it comes to pay rises”.
He accused the union of rushing to strike action despite the earlier “whopping” pay rise, adding the stoppage would cost the state-funded National Health Service £300 million ($3.9 million).
The British Medical Association (BMA), which represents the doctors, is demanding full pay restoration to 2008 levels.
The UK government has repeatedly said that in the current economic environment it is impossible to meet their demands.
Streeting has already agreed to the doctors’ union’s demand that UK-trained medics get priority for training posts over candidates from overseas.
AFP.
