Polish Doctors on Strike for Higher Pay

Doctors went on strike in hospitals across Poland Tuesday, keeping staffing at minimum levels in a demand for higher pay, Polish Radio reported.

Physicians at more than 250 hospitals and clinics staged what they described as a warning strike, asking for a minimum monthly salary of about $1,800, the radio report said. That pay level is about double the Polish national average.

Hospital’s emergency wards provided medical treatment only in cases when patient’s life was in danger. The radio report said almost all elective surgeries were canceled Tuesday.

The striking doctors said they would stage an open-end strike beginning Monday if their demand for higher pay was not met.

Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said immediately meeting the doctors’ demand for a pay rise would ruin Poland’s credibility among partners in the European Union.

Government officials argued doctors have already received a 30 percent increase in their monthly salaries as foreseen by the 2007 state budget.

Doctors fired back Poland could suffer a medical staff shortage as doctors and nurses would leave the country in search of better-paying jobs abroad.