Thousands of young doctors working in hospitals in England began a five -day strike on Friday after the failure of their negotiations for a salary increase with the Labor government of Keir Starmer.
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Debraying, which started at 7 a.m. local time (6 h GMT), will lead to numerous cancellations of appointments in a public health system, the NHS, already plunged into a deep crisis with gigantic waiting lists and a hemorrhage of professionals.
Their union, the British Medical Association (BMA), had given the government in early July two weeks to sit at the negotiating table in order to find an agreement.
These same doctors had obtained in September, after a series of strikes, a salary increase of 22.3 % over two years from the Labor government, which came to power two months earlier.
By accepting the government’s offer in September, the BMA said that the salaries of doctors accused “a 20.8 % delay in real terms compared to 2008”.
He claims an additional revaluation of 4 pounds per hour (4.5 euros).
In a column published Thursday evening on the Times site, Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged these young doctors not to follow the “harmful path” of the strike, believing that it will “have a huge impact” on the public health system.
He also accuses the BMA of having “precipitated” the strike, saying that it is “unfair” for patients.
In another daily newspaper, the Telegraph, the Minister of Health Wes Streeting also attacked this union, accusing him of not having negotiated “in good faith”.
Words beaten by the BMA. According to her, the government had all the cards in hand to prevent the strike.
“We are not worth less than 17 years ago,” said the union’s co -chairs in a statement.
In January 2024, these doctors, similar to the interns in France, had observed in January their longest strike in the history of the NHS, with six consecutive days of ranging.
