On Tuesday, the second day of the strike by the Zajedno (Together) trade union, which is demanding higher wages for diagnostic, laboratory, radiology and patient transport staff, union representatives declared that the strike will continue until their demands are met.

Around 4,000 members of the union, who work in 58 healthcare facilities, are still on strike, demanding an increase of at least 20% in the basic wage and changes to the wage coefficient regulation, union president Krunoslav Kusec told the Croatian news agency Hina.

Kusec: Hospital administrations are putting pressure on the strikers

He pointed out that several hundred examinations were not carried out in medical facilities across the country on Monday due to the strike and that the number would rise to 1,000 on Tuesday.

Kusec says that the hospital managements are putting pressure on the strikers. In this context, he named the KBC Zagreb hospital, which in his opinion is using sick children as the weakest category to obstruct the strike.

“They have treated children who would otherwise have to wait months for an examination as emergencies… so we have to carry out the necessary procedures,” he claims.

“The union members are under extreme pressure, they are being threatened with dismissal, but we are standing firm and will not relent,” he said.

During the strike, only emergency cases will be treated, while other diagnostic, laboratory and radiological services will not be provided.

Ministry: All patients have been provided with the necessary medical services

The Ministry of Health stated on Monday that despite the strike, the public healthcare system was functioning in all facilities and all patients were being provided with the necessary medical services and called for “common sense and realistic dialogue.”

Around 4,000 of the 74,000 employees in the healthcare sector are organised in the Zajedno trade union. They have been on strike since Monday because they are dissatisfied with the salary coefficients for laboratory staff, radiology technicians, nurses, ambulance staff and pharmaceutical technicians.

In addition to a change in the coefficient regulation, the union is also demanding an increase in basic salaries of at least 20%.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Monday that around 550 employees in about 20 medical institutions are on strike and recalled that a commission has been formed to deal with complaints about the salary coefficients.