The Portuguese Nurses’ Union (SEP) has called a strike for July 4 for nurses at the health centers of the Local Health Units of Amadora/Sintra, Estuário do Tejo, Loures-Odivelas, Santa Maria, São José and Lisboa Ocidental.
Nurses are demanding better pay and career conditions.
According to the notice published in the press today, the strike, called by the SEP, will take place between 08:00 and 24:00 and will cover the morning and afternoon shifts, but will include the provision of minimum essential services in order to meet “unforeseeable social needs”.
Among the objectives of the strike are the “fair and legal accounting of points held for progression purposes, namely those relating to the 2019-2020 and 2021-2022 biennia, the accounting of 1.5 points between 2004 and 2014 and the updated payment and due retroactive payments, since 2018, resulting from changes in career position.
Also demanded is the operationalization of the so-called ‘career accelerator’, the transition to the category of specialist nurse of all nurses who have not transitioned, “for the legitimate exercise of their parental rights”, the effective employment of all those with precarious contracts and the hiring of more nurses, according to needs.
The announcement of this strike comes a day before the scheduled meeting with the Minister of Health to begin negotiating changes to the salary scale and career issues.
Nurses were on strike on May 10, but at national level, in a strike also called by the SEP to demand the start of the negotiation process with the establishment of a memorandum of understanding on the matters to be negotiated (counting points, nursing career and other aspects) and the respective timetable.
The May strike, which also involved a sit-in at Campo Pequeno in Lisbon, had a 76.8% turnout, according to the SEP, with the effects being most visible in operating theaters and hospital outpatient clinics.