Doctors on strike
March 22, 2010
German doctors in local hospitals are taking part in a one-day strike, while the doctors' union prepares for another round of talks with employers.
The Marburg Federation, as the union is known, are asking for a five percent increase in pay and better compensation for doctors on call. Employers have slammed the demands as unworkable and are offering a mere 2.3 percent pay rise.
Demonstration scheduled
The union has scheduled a demonstration in Cologne for Monday afternoon. Meanwhile, talks continue to thrash out a deal on pay. The head of the union, Rudolf Henke says he does not expect a quick result.
Doctors are particularly worried about ongoing staff shortages in local hospitals.
"If [the staff shortages] continue, we fear that, within the next four years, there will be 10,000 instead of 5,000 vacancies to be filled," the head of the Marburg Federation, Rudolf Henke, told the daily Stuttgarter Zeitung.
Henke criticizes the workload that many doctors have to deal with these days. What used to be done by three or four doctors, now needs to be dealt with by just two physicians, he told the newspaper.
The walkout is expected to last all day Monday. Hospitals will be open, but patients should expect some disruption.
ng/dpa/apn/Reuters
Editor: Andreas Illmer