3,000 healthcare workers protest in Barcelona against new working conditions

Around 3,000 healthcare workers – according to Barcelona police – took part in a demonstration on Tuesday in the city center as part of their strike action in opposition to an agreement on working conditions for Catalan Health Institute (ICS) staff. 

A march organized by several unions – CATAC-CTS, CGT, SOM Sanitat, SOM Intersindical and Intersindical – began at the headquarters of the ICS on Gran Via, and went to Via Laietana, where it met another march – organized by nursing union Infermeres de Catalunya – which began at Plaça Catalunya. 

The demonstration ended outside Catalan government headquarters in Plaça Sant Jaume, where protesters called for the resignation of health minister Manel Balcells. 

Infermeres de Catalunya are calling for an indefinite strike beginning Tuesday. The other unions, which represent various healthcare professions, have called a strike for Tuesday and Wednesday, and have threatened indefinite action beginning January. 

'We are not in agreement, bury the pre-agreement' was the slogan of the main banner at the march.  

Labor agreement 

The agreement in question was ratified on Tuesday by the Catalan government.  

It is the ICS's third labor agreement, signed a few weeks ago with several unions – CCOO, UGT, doctors' union Metges de Catalunya and SATSE – to improve working conditions of around 55,000 healthcare workers who work for ICS, the public company that manages the majority of primary care centers (289) in Catalonia and eight large hospitals. 

The agreement includes an additional €320 million in spending per year. Measures include salary improvements for doctors from the time they join the ICS, a specific supplement for primary care, and a supplement for senior doctors who stop working on call. 

Fixed salaries for nurses increase by €1,700 per year. 

"Miserable" increase

Jesús Frías from the CATAC-CTS union warned that the pre-agreement "implies a miserable wage increase" for many categories of healthcare professionals. 

Néstor Sastre from SOM Intersindical labeled the pre-agreement "discriminatory," as there are categories that benefit – a reference to doctors – while others that have virtually no increase, he said. 

According to Sastre, 56% of the pre-agreement budget goes to doctors, while some other categories have 2 or 3%. "It is contempt for the rest of the professional categories," he said. 

Strike 

The Department of Health said 8.2% of staff on the morning shift took part in the strike, 10.6% in the afternoon, and 0.5% on the night shift, based on data provided by 71% of hospitals, health centers and other healthcare providers.