Sep 5, 2014
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Since the austerity, hospitals take no responsibility for the heavily understaffed Basic Emergency Services (SUB). Unions say many nurses work 16 hour days for 15 or 16 days in a row to staff the units. The participation in a 24-hour strike to protest against long working hours, often without intervals.
The Portuguese Nurses Union has reacted disappointedly to the health ministry’s announcement that 45 nurses will be hired for the Algarve. The union claims that 350 nurses are needed to get all services up to full capacity. Even by the standards of the Algarve Regional Health Board (ARS), who indicated that 169 professionals were needed, the current 45 new hires are far from sufficient. Since the austerity, hospitals take no responsibility for the heavily understaffed Basic Emergency Services (SUB). Unions say many nurses work 16 hour days for 15 or 16 days in a row to staff the units. The participation in a 24-hour strike to protest against long working hours, often without intervals, along with the continued shortage of doctors and nurses varied from a complete walkout at the Lagos Hospital to around 80 percent in Faro.
English: http://www.theportugalnews.com/news/algarve-health-strike-saw-90-percent ...
http://www.theportugalnews.com/news/union-deems-hiring-of-45-nurses-for-algarve ...
For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.