Doctors and nurses of the state health services organisation (Okypy) are set to embark on an eight-hour general strike on Wednesday.
A statement signed by unions says staff are “determined, united and mobilised” for the strike which is scheduled from 7am to 3pm on Wednesday, outside all public hospitals.
Unions have decided to further escalate action should Okypy not accept a collective labour agreement for their workers, providing similar working conditions as the contracts for the wider public sector.
The unions are seeking pay raises for staff hired on individual contracts and recruitment to cover permanent needs in medical, nursing, paramedical, administrative and hourly staff.
Okypy said it would operate with skeleton staff and was rescheduling appointments that would be affected by the strike. It apologised for any potential trouble to patients and assured it would remain positive for dialogue and cooperation with all parties involved.
The decision to proceed with strike action was taken on September 21 when the trade unions accused Okypy of being dismissive towards its employees and unions.
Okypy spokesman Charalambos Charilaou for his part, told the Cyprus Mail last month that discussions regarding a new agreement had been going on since the beginning of July and that the organisation had been clear on the parameters it had set.
“The unions want the agreements and pay rises to be exactly the same as they were when they were employed as public sector workers, but this is not possible,” he said.
The unions however are adamant, noting that “despite the long period of time given from the strike announcement there has been no substantial intervention by the ministry of health and the government.”
Unions Sek, Peo, Deok, Pasydy, Pasyno and Pasyki have all signed on to the struggle and argue that the joint technical committee, set up along with Okypy, determined that the cost of implementing the collective agreement does affect financial viability.
Meanwhile unions assured the public that patients will remain the top concern during the strike and that special arrangements have been made so patients will not be in danger or at risk.
They expressed their sympathy to the patients, however, stating the responsibility rests exclusively with Okypy.
Cyprus Mail on Google News