German doctors at 23 state-owned university hospitals are expected to walk out on Tuesday after hospital managers and union leaders failed to reach an agreement in collective bargaining talks.

Several thousand doctors are expected to rally in the northern German city of Hanover to demand wage increases and restrictions on rotating shifts, which entail irregular working hours.

The Marburger Bund trade union, which represents the doctors, is demanding a 12.5% pay increase as well as higher bonuses for regular night, weekend and on public holiday shifts for the more than 20,000 doctors at the university hospitals, which are financed by Germany's 16 federal states. 

Union leader Andreas Botzlar told the dpa news agency that the federal states "do not want to face the fact that university hospitals are falling further and further behind – in terms of doctors' salaries as well as working conditions."

He said lower pay and longer hours at university hospitals compared to other medical institutions are making it more difficult to hire junior staff.

"The states think they can make a few small cosmetic alterations and everything will be rosy again," he said. "But they're sorely mistaken; without substantial improvements, the doctors' resentment will grow," he added. 

No interruptions in care expected 

The states' lead negotiator Monika Heinold, who is also the finance minister of Schleswig-Holstein, expressed regret that the last round of talks had not achieved an agreement.

"It remains the case that our appreciation for the work of our doctors at university hospitals ought to be reflected financially," she said, hoping to reach a more positive conclusion at the next round of talks at the end of February.

Urgent patient care is not expected to be disrupted by the strike since hospital managers are legally obliged to secure emergency staffing, but clinic services may be disrupted, said the union.

Some non-urgent operations have had to be postponed.

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mf/wmr (dpa, AFP)