Algarve nurses may go on strike if the management of the Algarve's local health unit continues, “at full capacity since January 2024”, without setting a date for the meeting requested by the Portuguese Nurses' Union, which the unionists see as an unwillingness to resolve the problems.
In a press release, the SEP said that it had already reiterated “the request for an urgent meeting of management” and that, in parallel, it would “meet with the nurses in the services.”
The union warns: “If a date is not set for the meeting, we will decide on the forms of struggle that may lead to strikes.”
According to the SEP, after three months, Algarve nurses continue “without any response to meeting requests.” Along the way, “the problems worsen and the administration continues to show an unwillingness to solve them.” This is the only way to understand not to schedule a frequently requested meeting.
This concerns “the calculation of points for specialist nurses and chief nurses who were promoted until 2011 (there are explicit guidelines from the Ministry of Health to solve this problem),” as well as the challenge of “withdrawal of rights” and “unregulated working hours.” – Hundreds of extraordinary working hours, and the absence of rest periods between shifts that allow physical and psychological rest.
The SEP provides two examples of administrative decisions/positions that nurses do not accept, one of which is related to student worker status.
“Nurses only have to prove that they are students and have the right to benefit from the possibilities provided by the law. Management forces nurses to submit a request that may or may not be deferred. Moreover, it intends to claim back the days already taken for training, which is granted by law,” the union accuses.
Another example concerns “compensation for hard work in psychiatric and oncology services.” “Nurses are entitled to a reduction of one weekly working hour for every 3 years of work in these services, up to a maximum of 30 hours per week and an additional 5 days of leave per year. For some time, as a result of negotiations with the SEP, the administration agreed to extend this compensation to nurses working in oncology day hospitals and the entire psychiatric department. They emphasized that without any negotiation and/or consultation, the current administration decided to break the commitment it made to the nurses.
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