Portugal’s Nurses’ Union Association calls for strike from September 2

The Portuguese Nurses’ Association has called for a strike from September 2 in the local health centres of São João and Santo António (Porto), Coimbra and Santa Maria and São José (Lisbon).

In a notice of strike published in the press today, the Portuguese Association of Trade Unions de Enfermeiros explains that the strike covers two hours in the morning shift (9:30/11:30) and another two hours in the afternoon shift (16:30/18:30) from Monday to Friday, with a guaranteed minimum of services.

Nurses want the bridge positions automatically created by the 2019 decree-law to be eliminated, “correcting the inversion of the relative position between nurses”, and for the careers law degree that will be agreed to be applicable to all NHS organisations and all nurses, regardless of contractual regime.

They also want the diploma to update the remuneration table “to parity and fairness” with other health professionals, “setting the start of a nurse’s career at index 21,” a nurse specialist’s career at index 34 and a nurse manager’s career at index 44.

The indefinite strike will also demand that when the new pay table is changed, all nurses retain their positions in their respective grades and protect a minimum of 35% of nurses in the nurse specialist category, “putting an end to unconstitutional restrictions on career advancement,” the notice said.

Minimum services are defined for “essential social needs”, which include all necessary care in emergency situations and those services that cannot be delayed for two hours, continuity of ongoing treatment such as therapeutic chemotherapy and radiotherapy programs, administration of blood and its derivatives, and antibiotic therapy.