Tens of thousands of UK doctors strike

Junior doctors started their four-day strike on Tuesday, which could cancel nearly 350,000 scheduled operations and appointments across England. Junior doctors are at the beginning of their careers and make up almost half of all National Health Service doctors. The strike will likely lengthen an appointment backlog that’s existed since before the pandemic, said Stephen Powis, the medical director of NHS England.

What are they asking for? The doctors want a 35 percent pay increase to keep up with inflation and protect patients. Currently, they earn the equivalent of about $17 an hour—although salaries for new doctors rise rapidly after the first year. The U.K. minimum wage is just over $12 an hour. The current pay is affecting recruitment, strikers said. British Medical Association Deputy Chairwoman Dr. Emma Runswick told the BBC the union was willing to negotiate.

Dig deeper: Listen to Jenny Lind Schmitt’s report on The World and Everything in It podcast about strikes in France over the government raising the retirement age.