Doctors to go on strike at German state-owned university hospitals
Thousands of German doctors at 23 university hospitals across the country are expected to go out on strike on Tuesday as part of a collective bargaining dispute over wages and working hours.
Urgent patient care is not expected to be disrupted by the strike, as hospital managers are obliged to secure emergency staffing, but clinic services may be disrupted, according to the Marburger Bund trade union, which represents the doctors.
Several thousand doctors are expected to rally in Hanover on Tuesday afternoon to demand wage increases and restrictions on rotating shifts.
Hospital leaders and the trade union have so far failed to reach a deal through several rounds of collective bargaining talks.
The trade union is demanding a 12.5% pay increase as well as higher bonuses for regular work at night, on weekends and on public holidays for the more than 20,000 doctors at the state-owned university hospitals.
Germany's 16 federal states, which own the hospitals, "do not want to face the fact that university hospitals are falling further and further behind - in terms of doctors' salaries as well as working conditions," said Andreas Botzlar, a union leader.
He said lower pay and longer hours at university hospitals compared to other medical institutions are making it more difficult to hire junior staff.
