Bahrain doctors may go on strike against pay cuts

Doctors and specialists serving at Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) have found deductions in their January salaries.

According to a source, in the salary slips issued last Thursday, amounts up to BD400 have been cut from some of the doctors’ wages.

“Some doctors have covered 144 hours in the emergency on-call service, but they were paid only for 70 hours,” the source claimed. “Doctors are now threatening to go on strike to solve the issue as many of them have large financial commitments.”

It’s worth noting that Bahrain has launched austerity measures to offset the impact of the reduced oil prices.

In October, the government also reduced the number of Ministries from 18 to 16 and merged 10 government agencies into five as part of a public sector streamlining, having axed meat subsidies on October 1.