As reported by the BMA, a growing strike fund will support doctors facing financial pressure and help us win the fight for fair pay and working conditions
With pay falling, the cost of living rising and industrial action looming, there has never been a more important time to get the long-awaited strike fund up and running.
There are many different ways strike funds can be funded and operated. The BMA strike fund is a central pot of money that will be distributed to some doctors – those who will be in the most financial difficulty – so they will still be able take part in industrial action.
When workers go on strike, their employers usually deduct the strike day’s pay. (It is not universally the case that workers lose pay. In some countries it is expected that they will be paid. There are also some forms of action which mean that workers don’t lose pay.)
This loss of pay can mean that workers feel financial pressure to cross the picket line and undermine the strike by going in to work. Workers who are already in precarious financial situations will be more affected by the loss of pay and feel more pressure to cross the picket line. A strike fund is one of the tools that trade unions create to keep workers on the picket line.
The BMA wants to do everything possible to save colleagues from crossing the picket line. The more colleagues who feel pressured to go into work, the weaker our campaign for full pay restoration becomes.
The current BMA strike fund is still in its infancy, and in the future they would love it to be able to support more people. However, they are optimistic that it will grow quickly. There are two key elements that have been thought about when designing the strike fund: how to put money into the pot, and how to distribute it.
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