Polish doctors step up pay strike

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2007

WARSAW (AFP) — Polish doctors who have been on strike for more than two weeks have beefed up their protest, their union announced Wednesday, as the government continued to reject their pay demands.

Emergency services alone were being covered in 230 of Poland's 608 hospitals, Krzysztof Bukiel, head of the OZZL doctors' union, told AFP.

"In a dozen hospitals, more than 70 percent of doctors have handed in their notice," upping the stakes in the strike which began on May 21, Bukiel said.

The strikers say they can no longer tolerate a situation where many physicians are paid less than unskilled workers in other sectors, such as cleaners.

Polish doctors make a basic salary of 9.9 zlotys (2.60 euros, 3.50 dollars) an hour. The going rate for a cleaner in...