Unions point to 80% strike participation, but ULS says 24%
Unions and management made different assessments of the adherence of health workers to the 24-hour strike that was called, with the former placing it at 80% and the Local Health Unit ( ULS ) at 24%.
Called by the Southern Zone Doctors' Union (SMZS), the Portuguese Nurses' Union (SEP) and the Southern Public Service Workers' Union to demand better working conditions and the hiring of more professionals, the strike was a "success", stated the unions' spokesperson, André Gomes, who estimated the overall participation of the three unions at 80%.
"It was a gamble by the three unions. I would say it was a historic strike from this perspective, bringing together the three career types, and it had this impact on the strike. We hope that avenues will now open for stronger negotiations, and we hope the government listens to the workers," he declared.
However, the president of the ULS of Algarve , Tiago Botelho, pointed to a 24% participation rate across all careers, in the morning shift (which ended at 4 pm).
Although only data related to the morning shift was available, the president of the Algarve ULS considered that the strike had a “significantly reduced” impact on hospital activity and gave the example of 193 appointments cancelled in the morning, out of the 2,160 that were planned.
Tiago Botelho also indicated that "only two surgeries" were canceled, out of a total of seven scheduled for the morning shift. "It seems to me that we've had strike days with much higher participation rates," he compared.
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Jornal do Algarve
