Minister of Health begins negotiation meetings with sector unions today – Society

The Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, meets this Friday for the first time with the unions representing doctors, nurses and pharmacists, starting the salary negotiations demanded by the union structures.

The first meeting is scheduled for 10 am at the Ministry of Health with the Independent Union of Doctors (SIM), followed by a meeting with the National Federation of Doctors (FNAM) scheduled for 11 am.

During the afternoon, the new ministerial team will meet with the unions representing nurses and the National Union of Pharmacists.

Salary increases, better working conditions, career progression are some of the demands that the unions had already been demanding from the previous ministerial team and which they will bring back to the negotiating table with the new Government.

SIM’s demands include restoring the 15% salary increase for doctors by 2026, completing the interim agreement reached with the previous Government, and career progression.

The FNAM will bring to the negotiating table 10 points that it considers essential to “resolve the urgency of the crisis in the SNS”, in order to hire doctors and guarantee the provision of health care, including the restoration of the normal weekly working period base of 35 hours and the updating of the salary grid, the reinstatement of medical internship as a category for entry into the medical career and the implementation of progression in remuneration positions in each category and streamlining of competitions.

The Portuguese Nurses’ Union (SEP) defends, in a statement, that “it is imperative” to agree at the first meeting “the matters and a negotiating calendar, which aims at the moments in which each of the demands will be resolved”.

Valuing the nursing career is one of the priority issues for the SEP, in addition to resolving the various injustices that continue to persist as a result of counting points for nurses.

The five nursing unions that called off a five-day strike, scheduled for the end of April and beginning of May, following the minister’s availability to begin negotiations, also demand a salary and career review.

The Nurses’ Union, Independent Union of Nursing Professionals, Democratic Union of Nurses of Portugal, Independent Union of All United Nurses and National Union of Nurses also demand a “fair, transparent and enforceable” evaluation and performance model.

At the meeting with the supervisor, the National Pharmacists Union (SNF) will also demand the updating of salary scales, the full counting of service time in the SNS for promotion and career progression, the adequacy of the number of pharmacists to the needs of the service public and recognition by the Ministry of Health of the title of specialist.

The Minister of Health stated, on Saturday, that she had “no a priori limits” in negotiations with the unions, admitting that she was still unaware of the demands of these health professionals.

“The unions, in the meetings we are going to hold, will present their specifications and we, with all seriousness and loyalty, will discuss these specifications, which we do not yet know at this moment”, said Ana Paula Martins.