TY - JOUR AU - Chima, Sylvester C. PY - 2013 DA - 2013/12/19 TI - Global medicine: Is it ethical or morally justifiable for doctors and other healthcare workers to go on strike? JO - BMC Medical Ethics SP - S5 VL - 14 IS - 1 AB - Doctor and healthcare worker (HCW) strikes are a global phenomenon with the potential to negatively impact on the quality of healthcare services and the doctor-patient relationship. Strikes are a legitimate deadlock breaking mechanism employed when labour negotiations have reached an impasse during collective bargaining. Striking doctors usually have a moral dilemma between adherence to the Hippocratic tenets of the medical profession and fiduciary obligation to patients. In such circumstances the ethical principles of respect for autonomy, justice and beneficence all come into conflict, whereby doctors struggle with their role as ordinary employees who are rightfully entitled to a just wage for just work versus their moral obligations to patients and society. SN - 1472-6939 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6939-14-S1-S5 DO - 10.1186/1472-6939-14-S1-S5 ID - Chima2013 ER -