Nurses in Catalonia to continue strike through Christmas

The nursing union Infermeres de Catalunya announced that it will not end the indefinite strike in the public health sector that began on December 12 and will continue during the Christmas holidays.

Thousands of nurses took to the streets of Barcelona for four consecutive days to protest against a new agreement on working conditions for staff at the Catalan Institute of Health (ICS).   

On the first day of the strike, participation among nurses was 8.2% for the morning shift and 10.6% for the afternoon shift. One week later, participation was 3.5% for the afternoon shift and 2.3% for the morning shift.  

None of the main unions (CCOO, Ugt, Metges de Catalunya and Satse) supported the strike. Satse, the largest nurses' union in Catalonia, has been actively campaigning in recent days to challenge the strike, accusing Infermeres de Catalunya, a smaller nurses' union, of being "electoralist".  

In a statement released on Friday, Infermeres de Catalunya accused Health Minister Manel Balcells and the government of persisting in a position of "pride and contempt towards nurses."

The union had been invited to a meeting on Thursday with the Deputy Director of the Catalan Health Service and the Director of Nursing to find solutions to the collective's situation.   

However, they did not go to the meeting because they were told that they "would not negotiate with representatives of a minority union".