German Doctors Step Up Strike Over Wages

BERLIN – Some 12,300 doctors across Germany walked off their jobs at state-run hospitals Monday, stepping up a strike over demands for better pay and conditions.

The move came after the doctors’ union last week rejected a new pay offer from employers, which it said was not enough to compensate for the extremely long hours worked by medical officials.

Doctors have been staging smaller-scale strikes over recent weeks at state-run hospitals and psychiatric clinics across the nation. Those clinics are providing emergency and intensive-care services as normal and restricting all non-urgent patient care.

The union has been demanding a pay rise of up to 20 percent for 22,000 doctors, arguing that many perform hours of unpaid overtime.

“We work such long, crazy hours,” said Frank Montgomery, the union’s head.

Local government officials who administer the facilities have offered smaller payments. They say the doctors’ demands are unaffordable, citing Germany’s efforts to contain public spending and the escalating cost of health care.

The walkout at 37 hospitals is to continue for the rest of the week.