Junior doctors in England to vote on extending mandate for strikes

The British Medical Association (BMA) said its members will be reballoted on extending industrial action for another six months.

Junior doctors have taken part in a series of strikes over the past year, including a recent six day walkout, the longest in the history of the NHS (Jonathan Brady/PA) (PA Wire)

Junior doctors in England are to be asked if they want to continue taking industrial action in their long-running dispute over pay.

The British Medical Association (BMA) said its members will be reballoted on extending industrial action for another six months.

The current mandate runs out at the end of February. Unions involved in disputes have to reballot their members every six months on whether to continue with industrial action.

It is disappointing to be in the position of re-balloting our members for another six months of strike action when this dispute could have been resolved over a year ago if the Government had been willing and reasonable by coming to the table to make us a credible offer on pay

Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, BMA

If there is a “yes” vote, the mandate for strike action in England would be extended to September.

​For the first time junior doctors in England will also be asked to approve action short of a strike as part of the mandate for action.

Junior doctors have taken part in a series of strikes over the past year, including a recent six day walkout, the longest in the history of the NHS.

Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, co-chairs of the BMA’s junior doctors committee said: “It is disappointing to be in the position of re-balloting our members for another six months of strike action when this dispute could have been resolved over a year ago if the Government had been willing and reasonable by coming to the table to make us a credible offer on pay.

“In the two weeks since our last strike ended, we have been waiting for ministers to come back to the table, something the Health Secretary said she could do in “twenty minutes” if no strikes were called. But no such offer of talks has been forthcoming.

​“It is clear the only way for the Government to move its position on pay restoration, and to finally start to grapple with the worsening workforce crisis, is to continue with industrial action – which has forced ministers to move their position, however slowly, towards accepting the need for a fairer pay settlement.

“A vote for a further six months of action would show them that there is no use in further delay. Instead of waiting out another round of strike action, the Government might instead see the urgency of simply coming to the table with a credible offer and trying to end this dispute once and for all.

“They may have been delaying in the hope that the restrictive Minimum Service Level Act would constrain our ability to take meaningful action. While this legislation remains a heavy-handed attack on the right of workers to organise, they will be disappointed if they expect it to stop us.

“As part of the new mandate, we have asked members to approve action that, while not being a full withdrawal of labour, will still demonstrate the value of junior doctors’ work – and how much the system has been relying on their good will. This will preserve our ability to take industrial action despite the government’s repressive new law.

“There is no way for the Government to legislate their way out of this dispute, what is needed to bring it to an end is a credible offer on pay.”