Health Minister Vili Beros has called a meeting with five umbrella medical organisations for Monday, after they organised a protest rally in Zagreb two weeks ago demanding a meeting with the prime minister, the Croatian Medical Union (HLS) and the Health Ministry confirmed to Hina on Friday. Pročitaj više

“We are meeting at the Health Ministry at noon on Monday. We have all been invited by Minister Beros,” HLS leader Renata Culinovic-Calic said.

She said they were not giving up their demand to meet with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and that they had sent him a letter to that effect today. “We are demanding to meet with him and now we are doing it in writing.”

Culinovic-Calic said it was “strange and sad” that the prime minister was refusing to meet with them, even though he had received various groups and individuals before.

The HLS is organising a strike and whether it will take place and in what form will be decided by its Assembly later next week. A decision to strike requires the support of two-thirds of the total of 82 members of the Assembly.

“The Assembly will decide whether the strike will last one day or a week or until our demands have been met,” the HLS leader said, noting that their protest was supported by the European Federation of Salaried Doctors (FEMS).

She said that the union’s actions could stop if the government adopted a decree on salary indices for doctors, as pledged by Minister Beroš last year. She added that the government could also fast-track the adoption of a law on the employment status of doctors by summer if it wanted to.

Minister calls for dialogue

Asked for a comment on the ongoing preparations for the strike, Beros reiterated that solutions could be reached through dialogue and not by strike.

A bill on the employment status of doctors has been included on the government’s agenda for this year, and as for the proposed decree to amend salary indices for doctors, the Ministry has adopted all proposals by professional organisations and the decree is under preparation, the minister said.

He noted that doctors’ salaries had been increased by over 43 per cent since 2016 and that €83 million had been allocated to address the issue of unpaid overtime work.

A COVID supplement of 10% was provided, which brings the total amount to €32 million, and negotiations on a branch collective agreement have been initiated with all the unions, the ministry said.