They aren't being asked to work all 7 days. They already work a rota system that covers all 7 days, but Mr Hunt wants to change that system for a new one. I can't tell you what the changes are. Because he can't get the junior docs to accept his proposal, it will instead be imposed on them, starting in October. This is possible because junior doctors are rotated throughout the NHS system to give them broad experience, and are not employed as full time employees but are on fixed-term contracts. As old-style contracts expire, they will only be offered the new ones.
Mr Hunt keeps saying he sees these changes as part of a 7-day NHS. Today, apart from emergency care and in-patient care, it is a 5-day system. When you visit a hospital at weekends, it is clearly less busy. Elective (non-emergency) treatment is Mon-Fri only. On one hand, many people say it doesn't matter that we're 5 days/week for non-emergency work, because planned treatment can be planned and fitted in to the working week. On the other hand, some say (correctly) that there is expensive equipment and buildings not being used on Sat/Sun that could be. MRI units, operating theatres and so on.
My limited understanding of the dispute goes like this...
The junior docs say Mr Hunts plans for their work patterns will not deliver a system that is safer for patients. They say he isn't explaining how he will staff those unused units at weekends, or how many senior consultants will be working, how many nurses working Mon-Fri at the moment will be forced to work rotas that include weekends. They say he isn't saying where the money will come from to make sure there is no reduction in those services provided Mon-Fri. They say the Mon-Fri services are understaffed as it is. They also say the new contracts will make things worse for part time staff - especially women, because of the negative impact it will have on family life and childcare. They say it is not about money.
Mr Hunt says that the government is committed to a 7-day NHS to improve patient safety at weekends. He says they have given the junior doctors more money - implying that money is the only issue in his eyes.
Me? I trust the junior doctors and don't trust Mr Hunt, but like all these things seem to be these days, there's lots of rhetoric and spin being bandied about that muddies the issues and makes it difficult to form your own view based on facts. What I do know is that Mr Hunt was parachuted into his "safe seat" Surrey constituency as a candidate a few years ago. The previous MP was Virginia Bottomley. She is his cousin. Virginia Bottomley was also Health Minister. Both have links into private health companies that make me uneasy without having any factual reason for it.
This one is worth watching closely.
