The SMA (Andalusian doctors' union) has called for a three-week indefinite general strike by doctors across the region between 13 November and 4 December. ... Although the immediate trigger was the draft framework statute, drawn up by the Ministry of Health, these continuous strikes are due to the fact that the regional ministry of health has refused to agree on an implementation timetable for the agreement signed on 29 July.
More than 5,700 doctors in Malaga have been called upon to take part in the general strike. According to the SMA, "following months of fruitless attempts to avoid the dispute in our region", the strike will begin with three weeks of uninterrupted 24-hour walkouts.
The next round of strikes will be announced in good time, depending on how any negotiations with the regional ministry of health progress. "The industrial action will include other measures, which will be set out in detail in the coming days," the SMA said.
The dispute has broadened to include a "demand for measures against the labour exploitation" of doctors. This is not confined solely to the national level, given that the regional government "has been granted most of the powers relating to healthcare and bears direct responsibility for our situation".
On 29 July, the organisation signed an agreement with the regional ministry to achieve "improvements through dialogue and avoid confrontation". "While the text did not incorporate all of our demands, it represented a first step in the right direction by establishing a framework for bilateral dialogue and paving the way towards the full realisation of those demands," the SMA said.
Measures
The agreed measures include bringing on-call pay into line with standard hourly rates and ending the compulsory nature of on-call duties, as well as ending the compulsory nature of on-call shifts in hospital care; an end to pay "discrimination" against primary care doctors in relation to bonus payments and sick pay; the elimination of financial loss female doctors suffer during pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding; increasing the reduction in working hours for personal reasons to 50 per cent; converting part of variable pay into fixed pay; and implementing "essential" improvements for tutors and groups such as the A1.4 corps, MIRs and occupational health doctors, amongst others.
The agreement was reached prior to the formation of the current Andalusian regional government and was framed as "a political commitment that was to be implemented immediately following the appointment of the new team at the regional ministry". As such, the "timetable setting out the amounts and deadlines for implementing the measures constitutes an essential first step".
The SMA is accusing the regional government of refusing to agree on this timetable and of responding in an "inconsistent" manner. "The postponement of the nationwide strikes has deprived the regional ministry of any excuse it could cling to in order to delay compliance with the agreement. However, it still refuses to sit down with us to agree on how to implement it. We do not even yet have a commitment to include any of these improvements in the 2027 budget," the SMA stated.
The measures set out in the agreement are "urgent". They accuse the regional ministry of having "formally committed to implementing these measures, but is now reluctant to do so".
"These demands that cannot wait. We cannot waste a single minute more on fruitless attempts at dialogue," the union said.
Despite the apparent differences, the SMA has noted "that no political party, public administration or government, with a few exceptions in some regions, seems to recognise the significance and scale of the conflict they are facing".
The union said that the national health service is increasingly reliant on the "labour exploitation of doctors and medical staff". The strike, the SMA stated, will seek to secure the answers they are demanding.