Doctors in the Balearic Islands will go on strike again in February

PalmDoctors in the Balearic Islands, and also in other autonomous communities, are preparing a strike An indefinite strike by doctors is planned for February. "We don't want to continue being mistreated." This was announced Wednesday by the president of the Balearic Islands Doctors' Union (Simebal), Miguel Lázaro, who explained that the strike's methodology will be announced after negotiations with the Madrid unions. He specified that the strike will take place if the Spanish Minister of Health does not contact the unions before February. Lázaro clarified that the strike is not directed against the management of the Balearic Islands' Minister of Health, Manuela García, but rather against the Spanish Minister of Health, Mónica García, and against the government of Pedro Sánchez, which, in Lázaro's opinion, "is responsible for the situation of all doctors." The group is protesting because the updated regulations governing their labor rights "do not address the Achilles' heel of the public healthcare system, which is the shortage of specialist doctors," and therefore "has been met with absolute rejection" by the entire sector, they stated. The doctors denounce that the draft does not recognize the unique nature of the profession nor guarantee decent working conditions. They criticize the excessive workload, the precariousness of on-call shifts, the lack of fair compensation, and the complete absence of career advancement opportunities, in addition to the intention of the Ministry under Mónica García (Sumar) to prevent department heads and first-year residents from working simultaneously in the public and private sectors. Among their main demands, the doctors are calling for their own statute with specific representatives, a professional classification that recognizes the MECES III level, that on-call shifts be considered paid overtime and count towards retirement, the elimination of practices such as forced transfers and "service needs," and a service-based system.

For its part, the People's Party (PP) of the Consell de Mallorca will present a motion at the plenary session of the island institution this Thursday to demand the withdrawal of the proposed reform of the Framework Statute promoted by the Ministry of Health and to call for a dialogue process with healthcare professionals and the autonomous communities.