45-hour health work week plan goes to Spanish cabinet

Spain’s plan to limit the maximum health-service working week to 45 hours goes before the Council of Ministers in Madrid on Tuesday, 1 September. The Health Ministry wants approval for its framework law covering health-service staff before sending it to the Congress of Deputies. Doctors’ unions and regional governments still oppose the measure.

The framework law, known in Spain as the Estatuto Marco, would replace rules that have been in force since 2003. Its draft was drawn up over nearly four years of talks between the ministry and unions.

The version approved in June also proposes ending 24-hour shifts, introducing a new professional classification and adding measures intended to help staff balance work and private life. Health Minister Mónica García has described the reform as a “national pact”.

Doctors’ unions represented on the strike committee reject the text. After five weeks of strikes in the first half of the year, they announced indefinite walkouts from September, but have not set a date.

Spain’s autonomous regions are also demanding that the draft be withdrawn. They want work on the law to start again from a consensus-based agreement.

Topics: Strikes · Jobs & labour · Health · Politics

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com