Slovenian doctors and dentists start a general strike on Monday after talks with the government bore no fruit following a one-day strike last week.
The strike is being led by Fides, the largest trade union of doctors and dentists in the country, which wants the government to address pay disparities between young and senior doctors.
“We really don’t want a strike, but we hold the government responsible for it because it has failed to implement commitments it has signed,” Fides official Ana Lina Vodušek said on Sunday.
After salaries were raised for young doctors last year amidst complaints that low pay is why doctors are leaving the country, the union now demands that the disparity that had been created be addressed and the salaries of senior doctors raised.
Fides has accused the government of delaying resolving the pay dispute, while the government argues that the doctors’ issues will be resolved as part of a broader public sector pay reform, which is ongoing but has been delayed by huge outlays for reconstruction following the massive August 2023 floods.
As of Monday, healthcare services will be seriously hampered, as doctors will only be providing treatments needed to prevent serious and irreversible damage. However, non-urgent care will be provided to pregnant women, children and the elderly.
The strike comes days after judges started a two-week go-slow due to the government’s failure to raise judges’ salaries to the same level as the salaries of top officials in the executive and legislative branches as requested by the Constitutional Court.
Both strikes are seen as potentially explosive for the government, which has seen its approval rating eroded by a series of scandals and failure to implement ambitious reforms. However, some commentators argue that the longer the industrial action lasts, the more serious disruption could turn public opinion against doctors and judges.
(Sebastijan R. Maček | sta.si)
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Source: euractiv.com
