Edinburgh BMA staff walk out over wages as English doctors begin their pay strike
Staff working at the Edinburgh offices of doctors' union the British Medical Association were on strike today in a pay dispute.
The action - part of a 48-hour UK-wide stoppage by members of the GMB union following a 2.75 per cent pay offer from the BMA - coincides with the start of a six-day strike by BMA resident doctors in England who have rejected a deal which the UK Government says is worth 4.9 per cent.
The striking Edinburgh staff, who staged another 48-hour strike last month, mounted a picket at the BMA offices in Queen Street.
The GMB said this week's walk-out on Monday and Tuesday involved more than 400 staff across the country and came after the BMA failed to return to the negotiating table.
The union pointed out the 2.75 per cent offer from the BMA was below the 3.5 per cent headline rate of the government offer to doctors which the BMA described as a "crushing blow".
Despite large pay increases in recent years, the BMA argues that doctors are still being paid 20 per cent less than they were in 2008 once inflation is taken into account.
GMB regional organiser Donna Thomas said: "The BMA is asking the government for pay restoration for their doctor members but have failed to restore the pay of their own staff, who have seen their wages eroded nearly 17 per cent."
She said the fact GMB members were on strike today meant BMA staff would not be on the resident doctors' picket lines for the start of their strike.
"They will be on their own picket line, once again fighting for their own pay after yet another sub-inflationary offer."