According to the Digi24 website, nearly 500 hospitals across the country have joined the protest.
As the publication notes, medical facilities in Romania are continuing to admit patients today, but on a limited schedule. Medical professionals are providing full care only in emergency cases.
The reason for the medical professionals’ protest is their disagreement with the provisions of the second draft of the new law on wages, which turned out to be worse than the first draft from May. The participants believe that the proposed changes will lead to a significant reduction in income for a large portion of healthcare workers.
In particular, the protesters are demanding that current benefits and payments be maintained, that the staffing shortage be addressed, and that working conditions be improved.
Representatives of healthcare workers’ unions stated that they will continue negotiations with the authorities. If their demands are not met, Sanitas, the largest healthcare workers’ union federation, promises to launch a general strike starting July 28.
The law on a unified pay system must be adopted by August 31. It is included in Romania’s list of commitments under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Otherwise, the country risks losing 770 million euros in funding from European funds.
