The Keys to the Public Health Conflict: Reform of the Framework Statute and Medical Claims

The reform of the Framework Statute for the Regulation of the Working Conditions of Public Health Workers of the Spanish State, some 1 million workers, was approved by the Council of Ministers on 2 June 2003. The text has not been renewed since 2003.

CCOO. The reform is supported by the UGT, CSIF and SATSE unions, but the majority medical unions do not approve it because they say they do not take into account the peculiarities of their profession, so the latter have been protesting for about a year. 

The main keys to the Framework Statute are:

• Provisional appointments to vacant posts shall have a maximum duration of three years, from which date a public selective process shall necessarily be convened.
• The maximum working week shall be 45 hours, three hours less than that laid down in the European Directive.
• The maximum duration of the guards shall be 17 hours, which shall necessarily be paid for by rest and bookkeeping, without overtime.
• In cases of abuse of temporary contracts, 20 days' pay per year worked. 
• Measures for the care of children under 12 years of age or dependent family members will be made more flexible and doctors over 55 years of age will have the option of not performing guards or night hours, including pregnant or lactating women. 
• In order to obtain a management position it will be necessary to have a university degree, and when the function is directly related to a health function, a special degree will be required. The selection will be made in open public call, taking into account training, work experience and a project related to management. 
• Professionals in managerial positions shall ensure the exclusivity of public health, and may not engage in private enterprise, with extra pay. 

What are the doctors asking for?

• The medical unions are calling for a differentiated statute that takes into account the specificities of the profession, and they want their own table to negotiate their working conditions.
• They do not approve the maximum 45-hour working week set out in the bill and require a 35-hour working week . 
• Increase the pay of guard hours, computing them for retirement, contributions, professional development and other labour rights. 
• Minimum weekly rest time of48 hours in a row, and measures to ensure rest for hours after guard. 
• Expressly include in the statute the responsibility assumed by physicians at the assistance, research and/or teaching levels. 
• Much of the collective does not share the principle of exclusivity that is intended to be established for the exercise of managerial positions. They believe that it limits the possibility of simultaneous professional development in both the public and private spheres, for no reason whatsoever.