Doctors take to Larios Street: "The on-call hours that are not pensionable account for an extra five to seven years of working life"

A thousand doctors gathered this Wednesday morning in Plaza de la Marina, marched down Larios street, and applauded a manifesto read in Plaza de la Constitución, in which they demanded their own Framework Statute, the document that regulates their labor, social, and economic conditions. The Ministry of Health, led by Mónica García, negotiated and signed this with the unions SATSE, FSS-CCOO, UGT, and CSIF, but failed to reach an agreement with the unions that have more representation among the physicians, including the Medical Union of Málaga (SMM). As its president, Antonio Martín Noblejas, explained to SUR: “The non-contributory on-call hours amount to between five and seven extra years of work life” for doctors. This means that if a normal working life is 38 years, they can reach up to 45, without that on-call time counting towards their retirement.

The account is always that, provided those on-call hours are converted to regular hours, emphasizes the president of the SMM to SUR. “We are united in the fight against the disdain shown by politicians and the Ministry of Health when it comes to improving conditions and demands of doctors: what the government has done is to scorn us: we doctors have not fought, nor have we criticized any of the claims of other groups, but they have allowed themselves, with brazenness, to assume a representation they do not have,” added Martín Noblejas just before the demonstration started from Plaza de la Marina. He stated that out of the 20,000 doctors working in the public sector in Andalusia, 15,000 are represented by the various unions calling for the strike.

24-Hour On-Call Shifts

Another of their main concerns are the 24-hour on-call shifts. “And on top of that, they are paid less than an ordinary workday. And I don't want to talk about localized on-call shifts, which are shameful, they are paid half price and, when you are working, they immediately pay you for physical presence and the next day you have to comply with your schedule: it's exploitation, the system cannot go beyond the slavery and exploitation of doctors,” he highlights.

The Regional Government reports a 27.58% turnout on the third day of the strike, while the SMM places it above 50% in Primary Care and 80% in hospitals

Other categories work in shifts, “they have their rest, they do their ordinary workday, and we spend five or six years of our working life in on-call shifts,” he specifies.

The Regional Government has confirmed that the third day of the strike in Málaga had a 27.58% turnout, while the president of the SMM states that in Primary Care the support was above 50% and 80% in hospitals.

At the start of the demonstration there were 500 doctors, but as the human tide gained ground on Larios street, the number reached a thousand. Some neighbors of the main street of the city applauded the doctors, reviving the spirit of the pandemic, and among the demonstrators, there were health professionals of all generations, specialties, and ages: it is a cross-sectional and intergenerational protest, represented especially by the genuine rejection that 24-hour on-call shifts raise among the youngest.

"Own Framework Statute"

The main banner of the demonstration had the following slogan: "Own Framework Statute." Representatives from the Association of Medical Students of Málaga and MIR Spain also attended. The song "El estatuto Marco nos tira al charco" was played, and the banners read the following slogans: "Own framework statute for physicians," "If you sign without us, do the shifts yourselves," "24-hour on-call is not dedication, it's institutional negligence," or "Slavery prohibited except as needed by the service."

One of the physicians carried a coffin symbolizing the Framework Statute: "Doctors do not forget you, as much peace as you leave, RIP on-call shifts," it read.

They also chanted slogans like "It's not exploitation, it's dedication," "Professional abuse, healthcare deterioration," "Hour worked, hour contributed," "Mónica, beautiful, put on the gown yourself," "We want to work like everyone else," "Mónica, resign, doctors do not accept you," "Patient, listen, this is your fight," "I take care of you, take care of me," or "Tired doctor, error assured."

"We want to dignify the profession"

Among the attendees was the pediatrician Marisa López Salvatierra-Castillo, who practices in Vélez-Málaga, explained to SUR: "We need to dignify the profession, it's a matter of quality of life and being considered just like the rest of the workers: we are not asking for anything exceptional, no one is comfortable doing a shift of more than 24 hours, because in the end it's more than 24 hours. The minister says it's only 17 hours, but if you add the ordinary workday, it adds up, it's a matter of doing the math," also criticizing that these hours do not count for retirement but do count for taxation. "If they were converted to ordinary hours, it would be like four or five more years of work."

Doctor Ana Navarro asserts that the main reason for striking is "to take care of healthcare, we are losing it, we are losing it for all Spaniards," she called the Minister of Health a "liar" and clarified: "We are not here for money, we are here because there are injustices in work: people who work in hospitals have a lot of hours that do not contribute."

David Viciana, delegate of the SMM at 061, assures: "We are asking to have the same working conditions as the rest of the healthcare workers, the same professional category will be granted to nurses, whom we deeply appreciate, as to doctors." They would be A1, they ask for A1+.