Nurses union Sindepor has announced a strike from next Tuesday, coincidentally the same day doctors have signalled a two-day walk out.
Sindepor’s announcement followed a meeting with health minister Marta Temido yesterday (Wednesday).
The union is calling its members out from July 2 to 5.
Doctors will be striking on July 2 and 3.
Explain reports, the doctors’ strike – called by the independent syndicate of doctors (SIM) and the national doctors’ federation (FNAM) – seeks to “save the Institute of Legal Medicine” which has been “fragilised and impoverished in terms of human resources”.
Secretary-general of SIM, Jorge Roque da Cunha, claims that today “almost two thirds of work is being done by outsourced doctors” because the justice ministry has “refused” to value work performed by doctors who perform autopsies.
The situation has already become very complicated in some parts of the country where a combination of Bank Holidays and strikes by other sectors of the civil service have seen bodies mount up and funerals delayed.
Explains Correio da Manhã, the body of a man who died after falling into a well has been left in limbo in Lousá since last Saturday.
The man’s family cannot bury him before an autopsy is performed. Autopsies do not go ahead at weekends, thus the first thought was that it could have been performed on Monday. Monday, however, saw a local bank holiday , so again nothing was done.
On Tuesday, the autopsy was delayed as it had to be ratified by a court – and court staff held a one-day strike of their own.
Wednesday saw the courts reopen, and the order for autopsy given – but at this point the borough’s three forensic doctors went on strike.
Outsourcing during a strike is considered a violation of the law governing industrial action, thus the agony of the dead man’s family has persisted.
As far as CM understands, the three forensic doctors will be back at work on Friday, at which point the autopsy should go ahead – and possibly also the funeral.
Says the paper, at least two other bodies have been ‘held in limbo’ as a result of similar problems. If they are not resolved by Friday, next week is now looking equally complicated.
As for nurses, their strike centres on wrangles over the creation of a “specialist nurse” category and salary progressions: issues that have been behind industrial action by all unions in the sector since this government took office promising to rectify austerity measures of the past.
