Nurses' union to remain on strike until salary increase implemented

The Infermeres de Catalunya nursing union has said it will continue strike action that started a month ago until the Catalan government implements a salary increase. 

The union said it appreciated the efforts from the Catalan health department, but that they would not call off their strike while waiting for Spain's Ministry of Health to reclassify their profession and thereby facilitate a pay rise.  

"For us, there are red lines and we ask again for the commitment of the Catalan government to do everything within its power while the reclassification to the A1 category is pending from the ministry, since this situation has been ongoing for many years and we can no longer do any more," a statement issued on Friday read. 

The union has asked again for a salary top-up that would bring nurses in line with A1 salaries until formal reclassification occurs. 

Talks 

Infermeres de Catalunya has met with members of the department and with the Catalan Health Institute (ICS) in mediation meetings via the Department of Labor. 

Last week they met with Catalan health minister Manel Balcells, who explained that they are working on a plan to transform the healthcare system, which includes a reorganization of the different professional roles. 

He offered them, the union said, to be part of a technical group that will work on a plan to improve the nursing profession in the Catalan health system. 

On February 2, Balcells will meet with the Spanish health minister and will address the reclassification of healthcare professionals, one of the union's key demands. 

Strike 

Another mediation meeting took place on Wednesday where they were able to redefine, the union says say, some of the points agreed upon in the previous meeting, but which "still do not offer enough guarantees to be able to call off the strike." 

On Saturday they will hold another demonstration, where Avinguda Diagonal meets Passeig de Gràcia, under the slogan 'A government that does not invest in its nurses is a government that condemns them to exile'. 

The union says that it is aware that professional reclassification depends on the Spanish health ministry but urges the Catalan health department to move forward and create a specific equivalent salary supplement. 

Balcells has reminded the nurses that the latest terms of the Catalan Institute of Health (ICS) already includes an increase of €1,700 per year.

The union has been taking strike action since December, and earlier this week delivered 500 letters with their demands to the health department. 

None of the main unions (CCOO, Ugt, Metges de Catalunya and Satse) have supported the strike. Satse, the largest nurses' union in Catalonia, actively campaigned against the strike and accused Infermeres de Catalunya, a smaller nurses' union, of being "electoralist."