Junior doctors across UK go on strike over pay again

Junior doctors begin a four-day strike over pay today. Teachers, train and London Underground staff, and civil servants have all walked out in recent weeks, in the latest wave of industrial action.

The doctors say years of below-inflation pay increases mean they have effectively had a 26% pay cut since 2008.

The strike by so-called ‘junior’ doctors – a category of doctors who are not yet consultants (or GPs) but who can still have decades of experience – is the longest they have ever staged. Cover will be provided by the consultants, and other staff.

With (university) tuition fee loans, credit cards and personal loans, I’ve left medical school with over £100,000 debt, and now my wages are not even enough to allow me to fix my car when something goes wrong”, said Becky Bates, a recently-qualified junior doctor in central England.

Since last year the UK has been plagued by strikes across the economy, fuelled by soaring food, fuel and housing costs.