“The government is failing these workers by attempting to trample on their rights,” stated Paulo Raimundo, who joined a protest of several hundred nurses outside the Ministry of Health in Lisbon.
The gathering is part of a national strike called by the Portuguese Nurses’ Union (SEP), which accuses the government of trying to save money at the expense of healthcare professionals.
The secretary-general of the Communist Party of Portugal (PCP) criticized the current hospital management model, claiming it endangers the lives of professionals by allowing shift management to be entirely decided by hospital administrations without safeguarding labor rights.
“It’s putting people’s lives in the hands of management,” he charged, calling for urgent measures to protect professionals and ensure decent conditions in the National Health Service (SNS).
Paulo Raimundo emphasized that nurses are “defending their profession, their careers.”
“It seems that the ‘troika’ has returned, especially in the deregulation of working hours,” he noted, asserting that the battle of healthcare professionals also defends the SNS.
Raimundo warned about the impact of the new labor package, which he sees as a threat extending to all public administration workers.
“They need to be dignified, they need to be valued, and they do not need to be trampled with the total deregulation of working hours,” he declared, criticizing what he perceives as an attempt to weaken public service.
For the communist leader, the nurses’ mobilization combines the defense of their rights with the demand for conditions that ensure the SNS can meet the population’s needs.
“They are here defending their rights, but they are also defending the conditions for the SNS to meet the needs,” he concluded.
