They will strike for five days in July demanding better wages amid a cost-of-living crisis
Thousands of hospital doctors in England will go on strike for five days in July, an unprecedentedly long strike, demanding better pay amid a cost-of-living crisis, the union representing them said today.
Trainee doctors have been increasing their strike action in recent months, causing many non-urgent medical appointments to be cancelled. Their most recent mobilization was in mid-June.
From July 13 at 07:00 (local time, 09:00 Greek time) they are starting a new five-day strike, the longest in the history of the National Health System (NHS), according to their union BMA.
About half of hospital doctors in Britain are trainees, which range from doctors just out of school to those with even more than eight years’ experience.
“We are announcing the biggest doctors’ strike in the history of the NHS but it is not a record for the history books,” said Robert Lawrenson and Vivek Trivedi of the BMA.
“The NHS is one of the things this country is most proud of and it is a shame that we have a government that seems content to let it decline into collapse,” they added.
The BMA union says trainee doctors have lost 26% of their pay in real terms since 2008, when health service austerity was imposed. They are now demanding a 35% hike in their wages, which Rishi Sunak’s government is opposed to.
The NHS is in deep crisis as it is weakened by austerity policies and the effects of the pandemic.
According to BMA figures, around 7.42 million people were waiting for treatment in England in April, with just over 3 million waiting for more than 18 months.
Source :Skai
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