Health Minister Vili Beros on Wednesday said that drivers working in medical transport services cannot have the same job index as emergency ambulance drivers, and announced that he would talk with the drivers' union to resolve that problem.
Last week, drivers in medical transport services, which includes transports of patients needing regular oncology or dialysis therapy or those of organs for transplantation, started a strike in the capital Zagreb, demanding that their job index – used to calculate salaries in all public services – should be equalised with that of ambulance drivers.
In 2011, medical transports were internally separated from emergency services, making their job index lower than that of their ambulance colleagues, meaning that in medical transports salaries are on average 2,000-3,000 kuna (€270-€400) less than those of ambulance crews.
On Monday, a Zagreb court ruled that the strike is illegal, effectively ordering the strikers to go back to work.
“The court has communicated its decision, an offer is on the table and let’s talk. Industrial action is a legal way of seeking one’s rights, however, I think that drivers in the patient transport services cannot have the identical job index as emergency ambulance drivers, and that is my comment on all this,” Beros told reporters on Wednesday.
Beros added that he would talk with the drivers’ union HSSP, because “that is the only way to resolve the problem.”
“My goal is to consider all the circumstances, if the strike continues, to secure an adequate service (for patients),” said Beros.
According to the union, agreeing to their demands would cost some 2 million kuna (€270,000) per year.
Also on Wednesday, HSSP announced that their colleagues throughout Croatia will launch solidarity actions, amounting to periodic slowdowns of service, during which they will not transport non-emergency patients “except those with chronic diseases who require daily care, and that includes patients requiring dialysis, oncology patients, and emergency transport within a specific time.”
