First day of doctors' strike at primary care centers and hospitals across the country

BarcelonaThe first healthcare strike in a system at war with the Spanish government. All doctors in primary care centers (CAPs) and hospitals across the country are called to strike starting this Tuesday to protest the new framework statute being negotiated by the Ministry of Health for months. This statute, which regulates the working conditions of healthcare professionals in Spain, has not been updated in over 20 years. For now, Doctors of Catalonia, the largest medical union in Spain, has announced four days of strike action: this Tuesday and Wednesday, and on January 14th and 15th, following the strike on October 3rd.It brought together hundreds of professionals at the doors of the Health DepartmentAccording to the Catalan union, the strike participation rate this Tuesday morning is 45%, while the Catalan Health Department (Salut) reports 6.5%. The protest began outside the Spanish government delegation building and is expected to end in Plaça Sant Jaume, with the aim of pressuring the various administrations to consider the need for a single statute for doctors. Doctors of Catalonia has already warned 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. The demonstration is taking place simultaneously in other parts of Spain.The Association for a Medical and Professional Statute (APEMYF)The platform they jointly promoted with 16 medical organizations to achieve their own statute.

More demonstrations

The back-and-forth between the various unions involved, however, has caused tensions across all professions within the system, and they are now preparing for two months of protests. On the one hand, the medical unions have already made it clear that they wanta single statutedifferentiated from the rest of the healthcare workers, exclusively regulating their conditions.

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. But the objective is the same as that of the doctors: to fill the streets to force the ministry to listen to their demands at a time when hospitals and primary care centers are already beginning to feel strained due to the flu epidemic. Besides Satse, CCOO, UGT, CSIF, and CIG-Saúde have also announced mobilizations, calling an indefinite strike starting on January 27, which will be repeated every Tuesday "as long as necessary."