Spanish Healthcare Unions Threaten Strikes Over stalled Framework Statute Negotiations
Madrid, Spain – Major Spanish healthcare unions are preparing for a series of mobilizations starting September 16, escalating pressure on the Ministry of Health to resume meaningful negotiations over a new framework statute for National Health System (SNS) personnel. The unions – including FSS-CCO, UGT, CSIF, CIG-SAÚDE, and the Nursing Union – accuse the Ministry of attempting a “false closure” to a critical negotiation impacting approximately one million public health workers.
The dispute centers on a proposed statute intended to modernize working conditions and address longstanding issues within the SNS. Unions demand the inclusion of key measures such as remuneration linked to a new professional classification, rights to voluntary retirement options, a standardized 35-hour work week, recognition of overlapping shifts (“solape de día”) to ensure continuity of care, and improvements to work schedule organization. They claim a legal report from the Ministry, dated March, is “meaningless” as it addresses demands never formally presented by union organizations.
“The frame statute must be a standard for all personnel of the National Health System that contemplate real improvements in working and professional conditions,” a joint statement from the unions asserts.
Negotiations are expected to resume on September 16, with unions demanding the Ministry submit a revised text incorporating contributions from both the Autonomous Communities and the union organizations.Should the Ministry proceed to submit the current draft to the Congress of Deputies without union consensus, the unions have announced a mobilization calendar beginning with concentrations at work centers on September 16. This will be followed by a central mobilization at the Ministry of Health on October 1, with potential partial and general strikes to be announced subsequently.
