Doctors strike to press for better welfare in Germany

 

NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIA – Around 1,000 doctors went on strike at several municipal hospitals in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate on Tuesday, according to a trade union spokesman.

Staff at 33 hospitals joined the strike early in the morning according to the spokesman for Marburger Bund union, which called for nationwide strikes amid a pay dispute.

Most of the doctors left for Frankfurt to take part in a central rally at noon, the spokesman said. “In addition, more than 200 doctors in North Rhine-Westphalia are going on strike at the six sites in Bad Oeynhausen, Detmold, Bielefeld, Gelsenkirchen, Neuss and Marl,” he said.

A local rally with around 100 participants was to be held at noon in Neuss.
Despite the strike, there was sufficient cover for emergency care, the doctors’ union said, though it noted that any check-ups or procedures that could be postponed would be cancelled.

The last such protest was in late March.

Employers have yet to put forward an offer ahead of the fifth round of negotiations that is due to begin on May 22, the spokesperson said.

The Marburger Bund union is demanding retroactive compensation for inflation and a linear 2.5% increase in salaries for the approximately 55,000 physicians at municipal hospitals throughout Germany.
The Federation of Municipal Employers’ Associations rejects these demands as excessive.