Healthcare workers to go on strike October 3

The largest trade union for medical professionals in Catalonia, Doctors of Catalonia ('Metges de Catalunya'), has called for a 24-hour strike from Friday, October 3 to Saturday, October 4.

Medical staff of the Catalan public and semi-private system are called to down tools in unisen with other unions across Spain.

Metges de Catalunya is the majority union of the medical community with nearly 13,000 members and with representation in all the participatory bodies of the Catalan healthcare sector.

The call to strike is in effect for various professional groups, including doctors, pharmacists, psychologists, biologists, dentists, radiophysicists, chemists and biochemists.

The strike will run from 8 am Friday to 8 am the following day, Saturday.

The state-wide protest is part of the conflict between healthcare professionals and the Ministry of Health following the project to renew the Framework Statute for staff in health services.

The new statute has been widely rejected by the doctors, who feel underrepresented in negotiations and neglected in their demands.

They also denounce that historical demands have not been attended to and precarious working conditions in the new regulation promoted by the administration.