Dr Emma Ranswick, a Salford junior doctor who presented the proposal at the conference, said demand was unlikely to be met without industrial action.
She said: “Remuneration is the right, fair and moral thing to do, but it is a significant demand and it will not be easy to win.
“I know that industrial action will probably be needed to move governments on this issue.
The proposal supports a campaign to increase the pay of all doctors – including hospital consultants, who earn an average of around £ 120,000 a year, and GPs, who earn an average of £ 100,000.
It also covers junior doctors, who earn between £ 29,000 and £ 58,000 a year.
“See you on the picket lines”
Joanna Sutton-Klein, 28, an accident trainee and emergency physician, praised the recent strikes by trash collectors, airport workers and cleaners. She said she hoped doctors would join the picket lines “within the next six months”.
She told the meeting: “Some people may think that the demand for a full refund is too high – they may even think it is scandalous. But I’ll tell you what’s scandalous … that our pay continues to fall.
“All around us, workers are uniting in unions and earning big – last month, garbage collectors in Manchester, 22 percent; Gatwick Airport employees earned a 21 percent pay rise two weeks ago; and in March, cleaners and porters at Croydon Hospital won a 24 percent pay rise.
“These workers came together and used a key tool that unions have at their disposal – the ability to organize collectively, to negotiate collectively and to withdraw our work collectively … vote for this proposal and we will see each other on the picket lines.”
The proposal, adopted by the union, says that wages have failed to cope with inflation, which means a loss of up to 30 percent in real terms.
It states that “this represents a loss of career profits amounting to millions of pounds for each of us.”
The proposal called for a “pay refund” over the next five years – but many doctors said it “was not soon enough”, calling for a pay rise over the next six months.
“Terrible failure” to reverse the cuts
GPs voted last year in favor of industrial action in protest of a contract that would extend their working hours.
So far they have not taken it. But they must vote Tuesday on another anti-contact proposal, which could include industrial action.
Dr Vishal Sharma, chairman of the BMA’s advisory committee, said the union was considering “potential forms of action” to ensure that doctors receive better pay.
He said: “It is clear that our members will no longer tolerate the government’s sad failure to repeal these cuts. The government’s inaction would be completely unacceptable under any circumstances, but it is particularly insulting given the enormous casualties made during the Covid-19 pandemic and the efforts made by staff to keep patients safe. “
The government “has the opportunity” to resolve the pay issue, which leads to industrial disputes, he added, warning: “If they fail to do so, the BMA will have to support members to restore their pay.”
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services said: “We are incredibly grateful to all our NHS staff and are aware of the pressure caused by rising living costs.
“NHS staff received a three percent salary increase last year, despite the public sector wage freeze, and in 2019 the government and the BMA agreed on a multi-year agreement to pay trainee doctors, guaranteeing an 8.2% salary increase. over four years.
“We are giving NHS workers another salary increase this year – no decisions have been made and we will look carefully at the recommendations of independent pay review bodies.
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