On the resident doctors’ picket line outside St Thomas’ hospital in central London (Picture: Guy Smallman)
Thousands of resident doctors joined picket lines on Friday on the first day of their five day strike.
The BMA union members are taking on the Labour government in their fight for a pay rise and to defend the NHS.
The resident doctors—formerly known as junior doctors—were offered an increase of just 5.4 percent for this year.
But the value of their pay has dropped by as much 20 percent in the last 15 years.
At least 100 doctors were on the picket line at St Thomas’s in central London. One striker told Socialist Worker, “We’ve had a 20 percent wage cut since 2008. That means we are effectively working one day a week for free.
“It’s a political choice by the government. Health secretary Wes Streeting told us that restoring our pay would be a journey, not an event. But there are no next steps on this journey.
“We want him to come and talk to us about pay so we can get back to doing the job we love.”
Another resident doctor told Socialist Worker, “The real cost of what is happening is that brilliant people leave the NHS. It is not the strike that is endangering patients—it is underfunding that threatens patient care.
“Keir Starmer told us not to follow our union. I think all workers should be in a union. For a Labour government to be actively trying to turn workers against their union—I think that tells you a lot.”
Keith is the BMA’s resident doctors’ committee deputy co-chair for negotiating. He told Socialist Worker, “If we accept this level of pay offer, it would take us 20 years to get back to where we were in 2008.
“There is a crisis in the NHS. We have unemployed doctors, we have a crisis in the waiting lists, we have 20 applicants for some jobs. The strike is about safe staffing levels and they depend on retaining staff.”
Another striking resident doctor told Socialist Worker, “None of us want to be here. We want to be treating people and doing our job.
“But Streeting is refusing to talk to us about pay. We want pay restoration. It doesn’t have to be immediate. But it does need to begin now.”
Pickets gathered outside the Manchester Royal Infirmary. Dr Good told Socialist Worker, “I am striking today because Streeting has failed to make the kind of change we wanted to see from him.
“Last October he gave us a deal that said this is not pay restoration but we’ll move you back towards pay restoration over a time.
“We said we’ll give you a year. In that year, nothing has changed in the quality of our work.
“It is entirely in their power to pay us what we are worth—and we are worth more than £18.62 an hour.”
In Birmingham, Emma Runswick, resident doctor and deputy chair of BMA council, told Socialist Worker, “I am on strike with loads of people on the picket line. We are currently paid 20 percent less than we were in 2008 and less than we were during the pandemic.
“Doctors should not have to keep paying for the financial crash, or for the pandemic, or for any other government mistakes. The government can fix this and we hope they do so soon.”
There was a very lively and upbeat picket at Hull Royal Infirmary. Pickets expressed their anger at the Labour government’s refusal to fund pay restoration and the underfunding of the NHS.
The resident doctors held lively picket lines across England. Around 100 turned out at the Liverpool Royal Hospital, while 80 pickets made a lively atmosphere at the Bristol Royal Infirmary.
At Sheffield Hallam Hospital, around 20 resident doctors picketed, with similar numbers at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. They chanted, “Whose NHS? Our NHS.”
Labour is refusing to cough up, fearing it would encourage other NHS workers to fight for the pay rises that they deserve.
Health workers in the GMB union have voted by nearly 70 percent to reject a pay offer. The union is now demanding an urgent meeting with Wes Streeting.
A victory for the doctor would be a victory for every worker.
A staffing crisis in the NHS
Health workers set to strike across four Manchester hospitals
Bus workers rejected an offer and came back out
