Young doctors back October strike over 45-hour cap

Young doctors in Madrid are backing a possible open-ended strike from October after the government approved its draft health-service employment law on Tuesday. No strike date has been fixed. The Asociación MIR España says the plan will not do enough to keep newly qualified specialists in Spain’s public health system.

Its president, Jesús Arzúa, said the proposed Estatuto Marco — the law setting employment rules for public health staff — contains some gains but remains far too weak for doctors at the start of their careers. He said the country cannot spend four, five or six years training specialists only to offer conditions that push them away.

Limits with loopholes

MIR doctors, who are training for specialist roles, are not currently covered directly by the Estatuto Marco. But Arzúa said they could then spend decades working under its rules once their training ends.

The Health Ministry has announced an end to 24-hour shifts and a maximum 45-hour working week. Arzúa said the draft includes ways to go beyond both limits, warning that individual consent must not become a permanent answer to staff shortages.

Dispute enters a new phase

The Asociación MIR España is part of the Agrupación Profesional por un Estatuto Médico y Facultativo, known as APEMYF. The group is considering an open-ended strike from October and has opposed earlier versions of the draft.

Arzúa also accused Health Minister Mónica García of failing to understand the group’s concerns, saying she has never met the association. If the ministry does not take up its demands, he said, the group will step up its action. The bill reaching the Council of Ministers, he added, starts a new phase of the dispute rather than ending it.

Topics: Strikes · Health · Politics

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com