The sanitary transport is facing a critical situation after the call for a strike announced by the Balearic Islands Health and Care Management Workers’ Committee (GSAIB). From December 20, partial stoppages will begin and, if no agreements are reached, the strike will be extended indefinitely from December 23. The committee, made up of the unions FS-TES, USAE, CCOO and UGT, argues that this decision responds to the lack of dialogue and what they qualify as a “brazenness” in the management of the company, together with the lack of involvement of the IB-Salut, directly responsible for GSAIB, which has more than 900 workers. The first protests will take place on December 13 with rallies in front of the IB-Salut headquarters, repeating every Friday. The partial stoppages will begin on December 20 in two time slots: from 10:00 to 12:00 and from 17:00 to 19:00.
Reasons for the strike
Among the main complaints is the recent reclassification of staff based on a legal report by IB-Salut, which states that scheduled medical transport workers are not considered healthcare professionals. According to the report, these employees “transport people or things”, a definition that has been harshly criticized by the unions, who call it insulting. Javier Marín, head of Health Transport of UGT Illes Balears, stresses that this reclassification distorts the role of health emergency technicians and violates the dignity of both workers and patients. In addition, he denounces that while workers face this situation, the manager of GSAIB has increased his salary by 35,000 euros per year, reaching 91,000 euros.
Labor precariousness and union demands
Union representatives have also pointed to the state of the ambulances, describing it as “abysmal” in terms of safety, and have denounced the creation of jobs that violate the principles of equality, merit and capacity. Rubén Uroz, from the FS-TES Technicians Union, emphasized the need for all GSAIB employees to be recognized as healthcare professionals. For his part, Bartolomé Nadal, from CCOO, demanded that emergency health technicians be valued for their work in both urgent and scheduled services.
Next steps
With Christmas on the horizon, stoppages and a possible indefinite strike threaten to severely impact health transport services in the Balearic Islands. The unions reiterate their willingness to dialogue, but insist that the measures will be maintained as long as no serious progress is made in the negotiation.
