Thousands Of UK Junior Doctors To Strike Again

Thousands of doctors in the early years of their careers in England are set to go on strike later this month for another five-day stretch as their long-standing pay dispute with the British government remains unresolved, as reported by Pan Pylas for the Associated Press (AP).

The BMA has been asking for a 35% “pay restoration” as its starting position but has expressed willingness to negotiate. I Photo: British Medical Association

The British Medical Association (BMA), the union representing the so-called junior doctors, announced on Friday that the government had “failed to meet the deadline to put an improved pay offer on the table” and that they would strike from Feb. 24 to Feb. 28.

The junior doctors, who form the backbone of hospital and clinical care as they train to be specialists, have previously gone on strike nine times over the past year, with last month's strike lasting six days, the longest in the history of the state-funded National Health Service.

“We remain willing to continue talking and to cancel the forthcoming strikes if significant progress is made and a credible offer is put forward,” said the BMA’s junior doctors committee co-chairs Dr. Robert Laurenson and Dr. Vivek Trivedi.

The union states that newly qualified doctors earn £15.53 ($19.37) an hour — the UK minimum wage is just over £10 an hour — though salaries rise rapidly after the first year.

The BMA has been asking for a 35% “pay restoration” as its starting position but has expressed willingness to negotiate. The Conservative government has stated it won’t negotiate unless the union calls off the strike.

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