The Ministry of Health and the unions of the Negotiation Scope have reached a pre-agreement on the new Framework Statute that regulates the working conditions of healthcare personnel, which has led to the suspension of the strikes scheduled for every Tuesday from January 27. The pact was closed on December 15 in Madrid, with the backing of SATSE-FSES, FSS-CCOO, UGT, CSIF and CIG-Saúde, and opens the door to a definitive agreement before December 23, as reported by the ministerial department itself. The aim is to give stability to the processing of a key reform for the National Health System (SNS).
This pre-agreement is unrelated to the stoppages registered last week at the Can Misses Hospital and other hospitals in the Balearic Islands, promoted by the Balearic Islands Medical Union (Simebal). Those mobilizations were in response to regional demands, linked to the working conditions and remuneration of the medical staff of the Health Service of the Balearic Islands, and are not directly related to the state negotiation of the Framework Statute which is now being addressed by the Ministry of Health.
At the same time, medical organizations have called a statewide strike for January 14 and 15, as they consider that the pre-agreement reached with the Health Ministry does not respond to the specific demands of the medical profession. The call, promoted by the Agrupación por un Estatuto Médico y Facultativo (APEMYF), remains outside the pact signed with the non-medical unions.
Union support and suspension of mobilizations
The signatory organizations have expressed their support for the draft Framework Statute and have explicitly ruled out its withdrawal, despite the requests made by some autonomous communities governed by the PP at the last Interterritorial Council of the National Health System (CISNS). As a result of the agreement, the unions have suspended the strikes called for the end of January, a decision which, according to the Health Ministry, will make it possible to move forward with greater stability in the negotiations.
Physicians maintain January strike
The agreement does not include medical organizations. The Agrupación por un Estatuto Médico y Facultativo (APEMYF), which brings together 16 entities from all over the country, including AMYTS, has explained that the pre-agreement has been reached with non-medical unions, so the strike called for January 14 and 15 will continue. The medical conflict, therefore, remains open regardless of the pact reached with Health.
35-hour working day and retirement
Among the commitments included in the text is the establishment of an ordinary working day of 35 hours per week, which will be applied according to the terms to be defined in the corresponding negotiation areas, depending on the organizational and healthcare needs of each health service.
The pre-agreement also provides for access to partial retirement for all statutory personnel who meet the requirements of current Social Security regulations, and opens up the possibility of establishing early retirement for certain professional categories, following a comprehensive study of working conditions in the SNS as a whole.
Remuneration outside the Bylaws
The Ministry of Health has specified that matters that do not fall within its sphere of competence will not be incorporated into the text of the Framework Statute and will be dealt with by means of a specific agreement, the aim of which will be to guide future negotiations for a new common remuneration model in the SNS.
In this line, the head of CSIF Health, Fernando Hontangas, has pointed out that the remuneration associated with the new professional classification will foreseeably go to a parallel agreement, outside the Statute itself.
Calendar and valuation
The Ministry has valued the pre-agreement “very positively”, considering that it demonstrates that social dialogue is the way to improve the working conditions of healthcare personnel and strengthen the National Health System.
For their part, the unions in the Negotiation Area have confirmed the pre-agreement and hope to hold further meetings with the Health Service to reach a definitive agreement before December 23.
