A score of doctors joined this Thursday in Girona the teachers' strike demonstration to make visible the discomfort of the collective and show that they share part of their demands. The concentration gathered doctors, teachers, and farmers in the Fontajau car park, from where, after the speeches, the healthcare workers joined the march alongside the teachers and accompanied by tractors.
Joint protest in Fontajau
Until now, the mobilizations of doctors in recent days had concentrated mainly in Barcelona, but this Thursday some professionals chose to stay in Girona to, in the words of the union, make common cause with the teachers. Representatives from Josep Trueta hospital, the Catalan Institute of Oncology, and regional centers such as Palamós hospital participated in the protest.
"We think we have several things in common. The Government does not listen to us, it does not want to sit down with us to talk" - Isabel Castrillo, territorial president of Metges de Catalunya in Girona
Castrillo, who is also a union delegate at the Josep Trueta hospital, maintained that agreements have been signed that, in the opinion of the union, do not represent doctors and that condition their working conditions without direct negotiation with the collective. She also denounced that the Spanish Government intends to approve a common framework statute for all workers without contemplating the specificity of the medical profession.
Follow-up of the 25% in the Girona regions
The strike of medical professionals registered this Thursday a 25% follow-up in the regions of Girona, according to the data provided by Metges de Catalunya. Girona was the second demarcation with the most incidence of the stoppage, only behind Barcelona, where it reached 32%.
In the rest of the territory, the follow-up was 23% in Tarragona and 22% in Lleida, while in Catalonia as a whole it stood at 31%. By care areas, the incidence was 39% in primary care and 26% in hospital care.
Rejection of the labor model
The union demands its own medical agreement that allows negotiating working conditions adapted to the collective. Castrillo defended that the profession needs a specific framework for its characteristics and for the type of responsibility that it assumes.
"We have our profession, our training and our way of working" - Isabel Castrillo, territorial president of Metges de Catalunya in Girona
Among the points rejected by Metges de Catalunya is a mandatory 45-hour work week and the maintenance of 24-hour shifts. The union representative warned that this model does not fit with the new generations of doctors, who consider it unnatural and incompatible with work-life balance.
"I wouldn't like a surgeon to operate on me after working for twenty hours" - Isabel Castrillo, territorial president of Metges de Catalunya in Girona
The union leader also denounced work overload, lack of funding and a very bureaucratized system. In this context, she assured that the collective maintains the pressure because it considers that no administration assumes the substantive negotiation. As she explained, from the Generalitat they are referred to Madrid because they understand that these are state issues, while from Madrid they are told that they depend on the Catalan administration.
"The Government thinks we will get tired and we will not get tired. We will continue protesting until they want to talk to us, negotiate with us directly" - Isabel Castrillo, territorial president of Metges de Catalunya in Girona
This Friday another strike day has been called in Catalonia by Metges de Catalunya. At a state level, the strike is scheduled throughout the week and the union takes for granted that the mobilizations will continue on a weekly basis in the coming months, awaiting the opening of direct negotiations with the medical collective.