Doctors and the health minister will return this Friday to the negotiating table. Manuel Pizarro will face a joint proposal presented by the National Federation of Doctors (FNAM) and the Independent Union of Doctors (SIM). Require a change to the 35-hour weekly schedule for all physicians who wish to do so; restoring purchasing power lost over the past decade, with a cross-sectional increase of 30% for all physicians; and replacing 12 hours per week of work in the emergency department. FNAM’s Joana Bordalo e Sa hopes that Manuel Pizarro will “stop his stubbornness and start taking a more serious position at the negotiating table,” but “expectations are not high.” “We no longer need tricks and illusions,” he emphasizes. SIM’s Roque da Cunha adds that the proposal guarantees doctors will provide “the 24 hours of emergency care they are required to provide per week.” “At this particularly serious moment, there is greater flexibility to reach an agreement to reduce unrest on social media,” he said.