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    Starmer’s strongest warning yet to striking doctors: I won’t give 35% rise
    United Kingdom

    Starmer’s strongest warning yet to striking doctors: I won’t give 35% rise

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    24 Comments

    2. xmBQWugdxjaA on

      He should do it tbh, people complain the rise is high (and it is) but otherwise they can just go to Australia, USA, etc.

      We need to pay more in STEM careers and encourage it more (abolish the cap on university places, and make STEM education free and with bursaries).

      Just cut foreign aid and withdraw from asylum treaties – literal billions sitting on the table ready to be invested in Britain.

    3. Tartan_Samurai on

      That’s actually fine, give them a deal that provides a credible path to pay restoration and they will quit with the IA. They’ve said as much multiple times now.

    4. aldursys on

      Strong words for a lawyer. He might want to read the Equal pay for Equal work section of the Equality Act first though.

      Really he should be saying he has had to grant the junior doctor’s pay increase in full otherwise there would be action under the Equal Pay clauses of the Equality Act since PAs and F1s do equal work. By settling straightway he is saving lawyers fees and backpay interest.

      The numbers are straightforward.

      A Physician’s associate is a Band 7 agenda for change salary currently £43,742

      For which they have to do two years medical study and can’t prescribe.

      A Foundation Doctor receives £32,398

      For which they have done five years medical study, three of which on placement at hospitals and GPs, including passing the GMC’s medical licensing assessment in year 4, the prescribing exam and spending a year working ‘for free’ as essentially an intern in year 5

      Increasing the Foundation doctor’s base pay so that it is the same as the vastly less qualified physician’s associate is a rise of 35%.

      It’s always surprised me that junior doctors don’t have an Equal Pay for Equal Work action already in front of the courts. It’s the obvious approach.

    5. 3106Throwaway181576 on

      Dope. My wife can keep taking an extra week off every few months and the public can get fucked and have the healthcare they deserve.

    6. CrapAds on

      Given the centrality of the NHS to his missions the junior doctors are in an extremely strong bargaining position. Labour can use whatever words they like but it is going to have to be a big number and they will be forced to settle quickly.

    8. millenialmarvel on

      Let’s say goodbye to some of our most hardworking and well educated population because we’re going to experience some serious brain drain… the NHS is already screwed up beyond belief and I can’t believe how many kind hearted, good willed people we have behind the scenes keeping it all together.

      Who’s gonna ‘carry the boats’ when they leave?

    9. tika_dengu on

      Doctors on their current pay accumulate hefty 1m plus pension pots by the time they hit 50 and start throwing retirement threats. With their new demands, they’ll build massive pensions even sooner and hold NHS to ransom. The issue which needs addressing is the pay gap between these entitled Doctors and nursing staff. Nursing staff are woefully underpaid and do more to save lives. Hope the next government looks into this.

    10. Fun-Possible-1769 on

      Wouldn’t give payrises, wouldn’t prosecute Saville. Commie starmer would be a paralysis PM that achieves nothing.

      Vote reform.

    11. no-shells on

      He seems determined to make every traditional labour voter despise him, knowing they’re getting in anyway, just to get a few extra con/reform suckers in

    12. Titerito_ on

      Nobody deserves 35% raise in one go. They keep saying their salary has not been raised for years. Maybe they should have started to fight for it at the time.

    13. dandotcom on

      Lol of course not, the plan is to force more privatisation in and force the wages to come from that avenue – Streeting over there cant wait to get his employers on the books.

    14. BetaRayPhil616 on

      It’s such a nothing headline. Of course they won’t get 35%. But there’ll be some deal where it’ll be inflation + x% for z years and by the end of that time the numbers will have them close to whatever restoration is. But that’d not sound bitable

    15. B0xface on

      I worked as a financial auditor.

      We were hiring fresh faced 20 year olds straight out of uni with a bachelor’s in geography to sit and tick boxes on audits
      They earned £30k straight out of university to do this.

      For doctors to earn £32k even in the first year is comical given how bright they have to be and how much work they have to put in to even get there.

      I fully support increasing their pay and spinning it as a 35% raise is so dishonest! The fact is no one is going to want to go through the wringer to be a doctor any more.

    16. OkTear9244 on

      Try being a horse or farm vet. 5 years at uni plus 10 weeks a year unpaid plus two years post grad for the same money as a JD working 60 plus hours a week plus weekends on call.

    18. ClaudeJeremiah on

      It’s as much about a direction of travel. The government can’t continue to give below inflation increases forever.

    19. GhostDog_1314 on

      It’s nice to see labour recognise this issue and be prepared to deal with it properly and in the best way possible. I can’t help but be frustrated by seeing how much these strikes have had an impact by costing almost £3bn as the article states. When will they realise that we need to be taking a proactive approach rather than reactive. This proves the money has ALWAYS been there, but the people that are in charge simply don’t want to give it to them. They would rather our country, and some of its most essential workers suffer to make a point and keep the money to themselves, than pay what is owed, ultimately costing more in the long run.

    20. Chlorophilia on

      They won’t get the 35% pay rise, but they sure as hell deserve it. If the UK can’t afford to pay highly qualified people competitive wages, it shouldn’t be surprised by the inevitable brain drain. 

    21. biosolendium on

      They do get top-tier pensions tho.

      Plus their compensation includes access to loads of bs gimmicks like electric car allowance. Knew an NHS consultant who got a Tesla tax free from his trust lol

    22. Bathhouse-Barry on

      If we don’t pay them they will fuck off to other countries and I don’t blame them. I’d move abroad too given the opportunity.

    23. Melissa_Foley on

      A Labour government brought it into being; it could only be a Labour government that got rid of it.