General strike day in Osakidetza with 100% minimum services in relation to the pandemic

Satse, ELA, LAB, CCOO and UGT have convened for today, Monday, a strike in the Osakidetza complexa strike to ask the Basque Government improvements in public health after the one held last Friday at Primary Care.

the strike will not affect services related to the covid pandemicscreening, extractions and vaccination, where the Basque Government has set minimum services of 100%, as in the Continuous Care Points (PAC)the emergencies and in the cleaning. Meanwhile, in the health centers the staff who usually do it on a Saturday are working and half are working on the telephone service.

The unions denounce “the malaise and the weariness” of both the workforce and the citizenry and criticize that the Department of Health has not taken “a single step” nor has it proposed “a single measure” to reverse “the dismantling and the precariousness that devastate the public health system”.

They reproach the “absolute lack of planning for the generational change of a workforce” and warn that the precariousness and workload are causing Osakidetza professionals in Primary Care to leave their positions towards specialized care, private healthcare or abroad.

They claim the Osakidetza budget increase for the next year until reaching the EU average of 7% of GDP, increase the workforce to rationalize workloads and improve the quality of attention to citizens and end the temporary employment of more than 24,600 workers until lowering it to 8%, among other measures.

The previous specific strike in Osakidetza took place on January 28 of last yearalthough health system workers also joined another strike in the entire public sector of Euskadi that was called on April 22 of the same year.

The strike last Friday in the Primary Care it was seconded by approximately 30% of the staff according to Osakidetza and 70% according to the organizers.