Striking medics are ‘hypocrites’ for wearing Chinese-made trade union clothing that could expose workers to ‘terrible’ conditions, critics claim
High-profile trainee doctors have been branded ‘hypocrites’ for wearing union-branded merchandise made in China.
Medics will line up for five days from 7am tomorrow for what will be their eleventh strike in fifteen months.
Many will be dressed in bright orange clothing with the British Medical Association logo as they seek a 35 percent pay rise and better working conditions.
But the Mail can reveal that the daring hats, which featured prominently in photos of previous strikes, were imported from China.
Critics today denounced the hypocrisy, highlighting that workers in China are often subjected to “terrible working conditions” and prevented from forming unions independent of state supervision.
Many high-profile medics are dressed in bright orange clothing with the British Medical Association logo as they push for a 35 percent pay rise and better working conditions
But the post may reveal that the eye-catching beanie hats have been imported from China
The orange hats have become synonymous with the BMA picket lines during previous industrial action. Medics pictured striking outside St Thomas’ Hospital in Westminster on February 26 earlier this year
Paul Bristow, who is about to be re-elected as a Conservative MP and previously served on the Commons health and social care committee, said: ‘The BMA militants are showing themselves to be hypocritical by handing out merchandise made in China with their terrible work. conditions.
“They need to stop their posturing and strikes and get their members back to work.”
Dr. Sean Phillips, head of health and social care at the Policy Exchange think tank, said: ‘It becomes difficult to sympathize with the case of BMA members disguising themselves in cheap merchandise while talking about ‘cheap doctors’.’
He warned that patients will be harmed by the strike, which comes just days before the general election and at a time when the government is unable to reach a new pay deal.
Dr Phillips added that an ‘ideological commitment to disrupting those who run the NHS appears to outweigh a genuine desire to seek compromise and settlement under the current leadership’.
In 2022, local governments in cities and provinces across China offered reprieves for “minor” violations of workers’ rights, including forcing workers to work dangerously long hours, in an effort to boost the post-pandemic economy.
A BMA spokesperson said: ‘The BMA has developed an ethical procurement policy that we adhere to when purchasing goods and we believe it is beneficial for them to deal with ethical suppliers in other countries.
‘Before the order for the hats was placed, due diligence was done to ensure they were produced in factories where working conditions and workers’ rights, as well as the supply chains and services they source, are maintained in accordance with internationally recognized conventions and at least local laws.”