Czech doctors walkout over pay averted

PRAGUE

The Czech doctors' union has signed a new wage deal that averts a mass resignation from public hospitals over low pay.

The deal signed by Health Minister Leos Heger and union chairman Martin Engel includes a promise for doctors to receive pay increases of up to 8,000 koruna ($450) a month this year, with further increases in the next two years.

Around 3,800 doctors had announced their resignations effective March 1 if their demands for higher pay were not met.

Engel called the agreement "the best news for our citizens," and said he would call on his colleagues Thursday to withdraw the resignations.

Heger says he would intensify work on an overhaul of the health care system.