Thousands of doctors began a three-day strike in British hospitals today demanding wage increases, at the start of a week expected to be marked by numerous social movements.

Strikes carried out in recent months by many professionals in the UK, where inflation is over 10%. Railroad workers, nurses, border guards, teachers and others have gone on strike to demand raises as food and energy prices have soared.

The government started negotiations mainly with the nurses and the railway workers.

But the day after tomorrow Wednesday, the day the government presents its budget, is expected to be one of the biggest days of labor mobilization in many years. Civil servants, teachers, London Underground drivers and BBC journalists will go on strike. A demonstration is expected to take place in London, in the district of Westminster.

The doctors started the mobilization today. Members of the British Medical Association (BMA) union have organized pickets in front of hospitals. Their mobilization is expected to last three days.

According to the BMA, these doctors have lost 26% of their pay in real terms since 2008, when health service austerity measures were imposed.

This union began a campaign arguing that waiters in cafes are paid better than first-time doctors. The latter are paid around £14 (€15.8) an hour, according to the BMA.

“Thanks to this government, you can earn more serving in cafes than saving patients,” according to a BMA slogan.

“I thought that by becoming a doctor I would be financially independent, but that’s not the case,” said Becky Bates, a young doctor in central England.

“With tuition and personal loans, I came out of medical school with over £100,000 in debt. Today, my salary does not even allow me to repair my car when it breaks down,” he added.

NHS chiefs have expressed concern about the impact this strike could have on patients.

The NHS is in deep crisis, weakened by austerity policies and the consequences of the pandemic. On February 6, the most important strike since its creation in 1948 took place in the said service, when nurses and paramedics went on strike for the first time on the same day.