Sarah Carr reports:
Doctors said they will stage a seven day sit-in at the Doctors’ Syndicate after the board postponed the two-hour strike which was meant to begin this Sunday, March 15.
In a statement, the lobby group Doctors Without Rights condemned the decision to postpone the strike.
“The union has betrayed doctors’ hopes … on the pretext that it wishes to protect doctors and not expose them to the administrative or legal measures threatened by the Minister of Health and the Prime Minister,” the statement reads.
In a radio interview last week Prime Minister Ahmad Nazif threatened doctors planning to strike, saying, “Many people are perhaps unaware of the fact that public sector employees — in particular doctors — are prohibited from striking. Those who wish to express themselves have many alternative methods to stopping work.”
Nazif’s claim that a strike by doctors would be illegal has been criticized by rights group such as the Hisham Mubarak Law Center, which in a statement issued on March 6 rebutted Nazif’s comments, saying that doctors have the “constitutional right” to strike.
Doctor Mona Mina, member of Doctors Without Rights, told Daily News Egypt that the decision to postpone the strike — issued after a meeting between the Syndicate board and regional branches of the Syndicate — was taken “illegitimately.”
“The decision to strike was taken during a general assembly meeting of the Syndicate which saw one of the biggest turnouts in 15 years,” Mina said.
“Attendees were unanimous in their rejection of the Health Ministry’s offer to raise wages through allowances, and the majority voted for strike action. A decision taken by the general assembly can only be cancelled by the general assembly,” she continued.
Doctors reject allowance payments for shifts and other duties because, they say, they are not always paid. They are calling for a LE 1,000 fixed minimum wage.
For more background on the doctors’ struggle, check out this posting.