BMA staff have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action against their employers, in a potential complication to the day of action planned for next month.
The ballot was held by the GMB and ended this week, with 81.2% voting for strike action over the refusal of BMA management to renegotiate the 1.5% pay offer it has made to staff.
The GMB has informed BMA Council of the result and was discussed at the BMA Council meeting this week. The union has not yet set a day of action, but Pulse understands that 21 June – the day doctors will take industrial action - has been earmarked as a possible day.
The GMB had originally suggested holding any potential strike during the BMA ballot period but said that time constraints had meant this was not possible.
Anna Meyer, regional organiser at the GMB union, said: ‘As it prepares for the first industrial action by doctors in 40 years, the British Medical Association now faces industrial action by its own staff.
‘The BMA rightly expects the Government to negotiate in good faith, and GMB call on the BMA to practice what it preaches and enter into negotiations with its own staff to resolve the dispute.'
BMA chief executive Tony Bourne said he was ‘disappointed' by the outcome of the GMB ballot.
He said: ‘We continue to believe that the pay offer made to our staff this year is a fair one given the challenging economic environment facing all employers, given the very attractive terms and conditions of employment afforded to BMA staff and given the 5% award paid to staff last year.'
