The government plans to present the initial draft of the Collective Labor Agreement (ACT) at the upcoming meeting scheduled for September. The proposal will cover topics such as new ways to organize nurses’ working hours, including flexibility, according to the ministry led by Ana Paula Martins.
The Minister of Health, State Secretary for Public Administration Marisa Garrido, and Secretary of State for Health Management Francisco Rocha Gonçalves met today with seven unions representing nurses, to whom they presented the negotiation protocol proposal.
For the government, today’s meetings “represent the resumption of negotiations, following the commitment made in the Government Program to build new work organization models, adapted to current challenges and the aspirations of young healthcare professionals, better reconciling work with personal and family life.”
Protocol agreements were signed between the Ministries of Health and Finance and the Platform that includes the National Nurses Union (SNE), the Democratic Union of Portuguese Nurses (SINDEPOR), the Nurses Union (SE), the Independent Union of Nursing Professionals (SIPENF), and the Independent Union of All United Nurses (SITEU). The Portuguese Nursing Association Union (ASPE) also signed the document.
The Portuguese Nurses’ Union (SEP) did not sign the protocol today, with a new meeting scheduled for September 3rd.
According to the executive, the protocols aim to initiate the negotiation of the first Collective Labor Agreement, focusing on the organization of working hours for SNS nursing professionals.
