JUNIOR DOCTORS OF ENGLAND WILL STAGE A 4-DAY WALKOUT NEXT MONTH OVER PAY DISPUTE

Thu 27 July 2023:

The British Medical Association said on Wednesday that junior doctors in England will go on strike for four days next month, Anadolu Agency reported.

This will be the fifth round of junior doctors striking over the pay dispute with the government. The walkout will take place from August 11 to 15.

The association’s main demand is that their wage be restored to the level that they earned in 2008, meaning a 35% increase.

In a statement, BMA junior doctor committee co-chairs Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said: “Our message today remains the same – act like a responsible government, come to the table to negotiate with us in good faith, and with a credible offer these strikes need not go ahead at all.”

“It is not for Rishi Sunak to decide that negotiations are over before he has even stepped in the room,” they added.

“This dispute will end only at the negotiating table. If the PM was hoping to demoralise and divide our profession with his actions, he will be disappointed.”

Earlier this month, the government declared that it had presented a “final” pay offer to junior doctors, and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak asserted that further negotiations would not take place.

However, the British Medical Association (BMA) has expressed its disagreement, stating that Sunak cannot unilaterally decide that negotiations have concluded without engaging in direct discussions with the union.

As per the current offer, junior doctors are set to receive a 6% pay increase, plus £1,250 ($1,614). This raise translates to an overall pay hike ranging from 8.1% to 10.3%, depending on their previous pay packages.

The UK’s healthcare system has always had problems, but things have taken a turn for the worse due to the fallout of the Ukraine war, Brexit, and a spiraling cost-of-living crisis, according to multiple reports by unions, universities and think tanks.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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