Filenews 17 September 2024 - by Marilena Panayi
For 24 hours, the six unions representing the approximately 7,000 public health workers decided to close the hospitals.
The decision was taken during a joint meeting of the six trade unions (PASYDY, PASYKI, PASYNO, SEK, PEO, DEOK) held on Monday afternoon and as stated in a relevant announcement, the reason is the fact that the State Health Services Organization, as it now appears, is "deliberately" delaying the dialogue for the conclusion of a collective agreement.
"The lack of progress and stagnation on the issue is the sole responsibility of the Organization, which deliberately and repeatedly postpones meetings and avoids signing a collective agreement. This unacceptable stance of SHSO is a mockery and degenerates social dialogue and the collective bargaining process," the statement said, adding that following the decision for a 24-hour strike, local assemblies will be held (in all districts) in order for the workers themselves to approve the measures.
At the same time, the six unions will hold a press conference to explain to citizens the reasons why they decided to go ahead with strike action.
It is recalled that exactly one year ago the six unions went on strike again in protest over the issue of collective agreements.
The protest at the time concerned their disagreement with the proposals that the SHSO had put before them. Since then, a number of meetings have taken place between the two sides, but the Organization has postponed the last two scheduled meetings, provoking the anger of trade unionists.
In a statement, the unions said the 24-hour strike would take place within the first 15 days of October. The non-setting of a date by the trade unions certainly leaves the SHSO room to act and avoid inconvenience to citizens.
