YESTERDAY, NHS consultants went out on a two-day strike, the first in nearly 50 years, over their demand for an increase in pay to match the massive cuts in wages inflicted on their profession over the last 14 years.
A press release issued by the British Medical Association (BMA) laid out the huge cuts in their pay under successive Tory governments.
Cuts made even starker when compared to the wage increases enjoyed by other comparable professions.
The BMA reveals that its analysis of NHS and government data shows that ‘the pay of consultants in England flatlined at just 14% growth in the 14 years to 2022/23’.
It adds that in the same period, the pay for professions ‘such as law, accountancy, financial services, architects and engineering, enjoyed growth of nearly 80% in wages – almost six times that of senior doctors’.
Those employed in finance and business service roles saw the biggest increase in their wages since 2008/09 gaining a 78% increase.
Vishal Sharma, chair of the BMA Consultants Committee said: ‘This dispute is not just about one year’s pay settlement, it is about the reality of 14 years of consultants’ pay falling behind, about our loss in our pay in real terms of 35% and a broken pay review system that has allowed it to happen.’
Dr Sharma went on: ‘Consultants will stand on the picket lines today because we are angry and at rock bottom. We never wanted to be forced into taking this huge step. The government has had seven months to work with us to take our concerns seriously, to listen to us and to try and find a way to avoid industrial action. Ministers have done nothing to stop this action taking place.’
In fact, the Tories have no intention of listening to the BMA or any union.
This was made clear when Rishi Sunak, in a burst of machismo, declared on July 13 that consultants, junior doctors along with all public sector workers would only get an average 6% pay rise.
Sunak decreed no more negotiating, the Tories would not shift from this derisory and insulting ‘first and final’ pay offer regardless of any strikes.
Immediately after Sunak’s pronouncement, Dr Sharma was interviewed by The Daily Telegraph and asked point-blank if his members would now abandon strike action ‘in the face of such an uncompromising government stance’.
Instead of announcing any capitulation Dr Sharma replied: ‘If anything, it is a rallying cry. It just demonstrates why we need to take action and stand up for the NHS.’ Sharma concluded his interview, stressing that he was fearful of the existence of the NHS and ‘that is a big reason why we are taking a stand on this and striking’.
Consultants and junior doctors are not just fighting for pay but for the very existence of the NHS as a free at the point of delivery service.
The continued cuts to NHS workers pay, along with all the millions cut from the NHS budgets under Tory austerity to ‘balance the books’, and bring down the £2.6 trillion public debt, run up bailing out the banks and corporations after the 2008 crash, has driven thousands of nurses and doctors out of the NHS.
The capitalist class have always hated the NHS and the Tory refusal to negotiate with consultants and junior doctors over pay is part of the overall plan to pauperise the NHS, declare it a ‘failing service’ and open it up to privatisation.
Consultants and junior doctors have shown they are prepared to fight for the NHS and the entire working class must rally behind them.
All those trade union leaders who have capitulated and called off strikes because of Sunak’s blustering bravado must be removed and replaced with a leadership that will force the TUC to call a general strike to bring down this collapsing Tory government, bar the way to any coalition national government being plotted by Starmer and the Labour right wing, and go forward to a workers government and a socialist planned economy.
This is the only way to defend the NHS.
FORWARD TO THE GENERAL STRIKE TO BRING DOWN THE TORIES AND BRING IN A WORKERS GOVERNMENT AND SOCIALISM!