Spain doctors call indefinite strike from 28 October

Doctors across Spain will begin an indefinite strike on 28 October, after unions rejected a proposed new employment framework for health staff. The medical strike committee announced the action in Madrid on Friday, 11 September. It wants a separate set of rules for doctors and specialist medical staff.

The proposed framework law, known as the Estatuto Marco, was approved by the Council of Ministers 10 days earlier. It would replace rules that have been in force since 2003 and is now going through the Congress of Deputies.

The strike is backed by the Spanish Confederation of Medical Unions, the Andalusian Medical Union, Metges de Catalunya, the Madrid Association of Doctors and University Graduates, the Basque Medical Union, the Independent Galician Doctors’ Union and the Medical and Faculty Union.

Fight over hours and on-call work

The unions want a 35-hour working week and recognition and payment for extra hours. They are also calling for a full overhaul of on-call duties, with doctors able to choose whether to take them.

Their demands include job grading that reflects doctors’ training and responsibility, along with changes to the pension system.

Ángela Hernández, general secretary of the Madrid doctors’ association AMYTS, called an indefinite strike “a failure for everyone”. But she said doctors did not want to keep watching patient care deteriorate.

Previous stoppages failed to settle dispute

The strike committee says the Health Ministry has pressed ahead with a plan opposed by doctors and specialist staff despite months of strikes, protests and attempts to secure talks.

Doctors had already stopped work for one week each month from February to June. The unions have yet to set the timetable for further action after the 28 October walkout.

Topics: Strikes · Jobs & labour · Health · Politics

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com