Double strike at Catalan health centers amid flu epidemic

BarcelonaThe healthcare system is at odds with the Spanish government, which will have to deal with two simultaneous healthcare strikes this winter. The Ministry of Health has been negotiating a new framework statute for months—the law that regulates the working conditions of healthcare professionals in Spain and which hasn't been updated in over 20 years—but the back-and-forth between the various unions involved has caused tensions across all professions within the system, who are now preparing for two months of protests. The reasons for protesting are similar in their basic structure, but have some specific characteristics. On the one hand, the medical unions have already made it clear that they wanta single statuteSeparately, the unions that exclusively regulate the working conditions of doctors, unlike other healthcare workers, have announced a separate statute. On the other hand, the other unions negotiating the statute, including the main nurses' union, Satse, have accused the Ministry of Health of neglecting their interests due to "parallel negotiations" with doctors. For all these reasons, unions on both sides will return to the streets to force the ministry to listen to their respective demands at a time when hospitals and primary care centers are already beginning to feel strained due to the flu epidemic. On the one hand, Doctors of Catalonia, the largest medical union in Spain, has announced four days of strike action on December 9th and 10th and January 14th and 15th, following the strike on October 3rd, which It brought together hundreds of professionals at the doors of the Health DepartmentFurthermore, the union warns that this time "the protests will not stop, but will continue until the administration addresses their main demand," namely, a single statute that exclusively regulates the healthcare, organizational, and labor aspects of doctors. These four days of strike action will be mirrored nationwide through... The Association for a Medical and Professional Statute (APEMYF)The platform they jointly promoted with 16 medical organizations for the achievement of their own statute.

On the other hand, this Thursday the unions negotiating the framework statute with the Ministry and representing other healthcare professionals, such as SATSE-FSES, CCOO, UGT, CSIF, and CIG-Saúde, have called an indefinite strike starting January 27, to be repeated every Tuesday. They have done so due to "the lack of response and ministerial paralysis" to their demands and, in fact, accuse the Ministry of Health of pushing public healthcare "towards a point of no return." In this regard, these groups state that the Ministry "has hindered and delayed the negotiation, maintaining and fueling a parallel process with organizations outside the scope of negotiation" while "ignoring" the other unions.

The Ministry of Health defends the consensus on the framework statute

Health Minister Mónica García responded to healthcare professionals with a video on social media, highlighting the work done in recent months to include all stakeholders in the healthcare system in the future legislation. While acknowledging that the law "won't solve everything," she asserted that it will curb "abuses" and 24-hour shifts, and "put an end to precarious employment," among other things. However, the minister did not rule out meeting again with whomever necessary to move the legislation forward, but she has previously warned that the law must reach the Council of Ministers to avoid being shelved.