Following the failure of last-minute talks with the Labour government to produce a new pay agreement, thousands of junior doctors in the UK went on strike for five days early Friday.
Doctors were seen on picket lines outside hospitals across the country, resuming industrial action over what they describe as years of “pay erosion”. The strike follows the breakdown of talks late Thursday, despite previous agreements reached under Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s administration.
In September, junior doctors had accepted a 22.3% pay rise over two years, offered shortly after Labour came to power. However, members of the British Medical Association (BMA) say the increase has not fully addressed a more than 21% real-terms decline in wages since 2008.
“We’re not working 21 per cent less hard, so why should our pay suffer?” said Melissa Ryan and Ross Nieuwoudt, co-chairs of the BMA’s junior doctors committee, in a statement.
Prime Minister Starmer on Friday urged doctors to reconsider their actions, warning that the strike would severely impact the National Health Service (NHS).
“Launching a strike will mean everyone loses,” he wrote in The Times. “Lives will be blighted by this decision… Our NHS and your patients need you.”
Starmer criticised the BMA leadership, calling on doctors not to follow the union “down this damaging road”.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting echoed the prime minister’s concerns, saying in a letter published in The Telegraph that the government “cannot afford to go further on pay this year.”
Last year’s strikes by junior doctors caused widespread disruption, leading to the cancellation of tens of thousands of appointments and delays in treatment. They were part of broader industrial unrest across both public and private sectors amid soaring inflation.
The previous Conservative government had rejected BMA demands for a 35% pay rise to restore earnings to pre-inflation levels. Since taking office, Labour has attempted to settle multiple disputes, reaching deals with other public sector workers, including teachers and train drivers. One such deal — a 15% increase over three years for train drivers — faced strong criticism from the Conservative opposition.
Despite Labour’s efforts to resolve past pay disputes, the current standoff with junior doctors signals ongoing tensions over public sector compensation.
