The meeting between the Ministry of Health and medical unions, scheduled for Wednesday, was canceled this evening at the request of the government. The general secretary of the Independent Doctors’ Union (SIM), João Roque da Cunha, told Lusa that the meeting had been canceled around 9 p.m.
The last meetings with the Ministry of Health were always considered “the last meeting”, but no white smoke emerged, and the same was expected for next Wednesday’s meeting, especially since it would already take place in a climate of political crisis. with a resigning Prime Minister and waiting for a decision from the President of the Republic on the future of the country. In mid-afternoon, Health Minister Manuel Pizarro stressed that he was sticking to his intention to meet with the unions, but early in the evening, after Costa’s meeting with his ministers, the request for cancellation arrived.
On the table would be the last topic that still needs to be discussed: salary increases for doctors. Regarding the other two themes that the unions presented in a joint proposal to the Minister of Health, Manuel Pizarro, the restoration of a 35-hour weekly schedule for doctors who wanted it and the replacement of 12 hours of emergency care instead of 18 hours . After many hours of negotiations, points of convergence had already been found, with both the ministry and the unions finally giving in.
Now the 18-month negotiating process is once again plunged into even deeper uncertainty.
Source: DN
