Junior doctors to ballot for action

The BMA junior doctors committee has voted to ballot for industrial action, saying the government’s failure to make any effort to restore junior doctors’ pay has left it with no choice but to enter a trade dispute.

The union points to a recent survey it carried out which showed that 83% of responding junior doctors in England believe that this year’s 2% pay award is “completely unacceptable”, and 72% would be prepared to take industrial action if the government does not commit to full pay restoration.

The new co-chairs of the BMA junior doctor committee, Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said: “The government’s unwillingness to engage with junior doctors will result in it sleepwalking into doctors going on strike. A junior doctor is not worth more than a quarter less today than they were in 2008, and yet this is the amount of pay erosion that we are facing.

“Our message to the profession and to our patients is clear. The perpetual crisis in the NHS is not acceptable, but the danger is that it comes to be treated as the norm. We are now in a trade dispute with government over pay and will proceed with the next steps in preparing to ballot junior doctor members in England for industrial action.”

https://www.bma.org.uk/news-and-opinion/junior-doctors-plan-ballot-for-industrial-action-in-early-january