Doctors of Catalonia urge Illa's Government to negotiate the indefinite strike

The indefinite strike of doctors in the Catalan public health system continues without an agreement. The union demands a specific agreement and Health cites state competencies.

According to El Debate, the indefinite strike of doctors in the Catalan public health system reaches its second day without the convening union and the Generalitat having come closer. Doctors of Catalonia is urging Salvador Illa's Government to sit down and negotiate a specific agreement for the doctors and measures against work overload.

The union's general secretary, Xavier Lleonart, delivered the message during the first day of strikes. His warning was direct.

“They can negotiate or call elections and leave for incompetence.”

Lleonart believes that the regional government can intervene in the conflict. He suggested that if they do not want to negotiate, they should call elections, and then the union would suspend the strike until there is a new government.

The mobilization is different from the twelve days of strikes called since last autumn. Now the protest has no end date, and the union wants to maintain pressure until there are advances. Lleonart assures that there will be professionals supporting the strike every day, which forces the centres to schedule their activities without knowing which staff will be available.

Doctors of Catalonia also rejects that the daily follow-up is the key indicator of the conflict. The Department of Health provisionally estimates the participation on the first day at 4.5%, but the union insists on how many days they will maintain the pressure.

From the Department of Health, led by the PSC, it is acknowledged that the demands are legitimate and that working conditions, professional recognition, and work-life balance, including 24-hour shifts, need to continue improving. However, the department maintains that some of the demands exceed the competencies of the Generalitat.

The department reminds that the origin of the mobilization is a state-level conflict, which began with the demand for a specific statute for doctors from the Ministry of Health. With this argument, it defends that the strike does not respond to a recent decision by the Catalan Government nor to a worsening of conditions in Catalonia.

Health estimates a 15.67% increase in staffing over five years and assures that the working hours have been reduced to 1,643 annual hours, 80 hours less than in previous agreements. It adds increases of between 25% and 30% in shifts, as well as improvements in supplements, professional career, and stability.

The department also reminds that Doctors of Catalonia signed the III Agreement of the Catalan Health Institute (ICS), valid until 2027, and participates in the negotiation of the IV Agreement of the Public Health System of Catalonia (SISCAT). From there, it argues that labour issues should be addressed within those frameworks and rejects opening a parallel negotiation.