UK protest backs healthcare workers as doctors prepare to strike

Tens of thousands of trainee doctors will go on strike in England on Monday for three days amid a pay dispute.

Thousands of protesters marched through London to the British prime minister’s residence on Saturday to support health workers who have staged a series of strikes over pay and conditions at the state-funded National Health Service.

Nearly 40,000 young doctors, who form the backbone of hospital care, will travel across England for three days from Monday.

NHS England said the doctors’ strike would be even more disruptive than recent strikes by nurses and ambulance staff.

The NHS said it would “prioritize resources to protect critical and emergency care, maternity care and, where possible, prioritize patients who have waited the longest for elective care and cancer surgery”, but thousands appointments and procedures will be canceled during the 72-hour strike. .

A wave of strikes has disrupted British life for months, as Workers demand pay raise keep pace with double-digit inflation. In addition to healthcare workers, teachers, train conductors, airport baggage handlers, border staff, driving examiners, bus drivers and postal workers have all quit their jobs to demand higher wages.

Unions have said wages, especially in the public sector, have fallen in real terms over the past decade, and a cost-of-living crisis fueled by soaring food and energy prices has left many struggling. to pay your bills.

The UK’s annual inflation rate was 10.1 percent in January, down from a November high of 11.1 percent, but still the highest in 40 years. The Conservative government argues that giving public sector staff pay increases of 10 percent or more would further increase inflation.

There have been recent signs of progress toward ending the disputes. Nurses, midwives, physiotherapists and ambulance staff last week called off planned strikes to negotiate wages with the government.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said he would hold talks with representatives of the young doctors if they agreed to call off the strike.

“Let’s have a constructive dialogue to make the NHS a better place to work and make sure we deliver the care patients need,” he wrote on Twitter.

But the doctors’ union, the British Medical Association, said there had been “no credible negotiations” and the strike would start as scheduled on Monday.