In statements to Lusa, on the sidelines of a gathering of these professionals in front of the Vila Real Hospital, the coordinator of the Beira Alta regional directorate of the Portuguese Nurses Union, Alfredo Gomes, explained that this gathering is part of “a major action” by the union that will travel across the country “from Minho to Algarve” during the month of August.
“Regarding this ULS (Local Health Unit), we have three major issues at stake: the precariousness of some professionals, cases of inequality and discrimination, and the lack of recognition of some rights by the board of directors,” said the union representative.
Regarding precariousness, he said, “in this ULS there are about 100 nurses with precarious contracts who are meeting permanent service needs, and what we demand is for them to have permanent contracts.”
“We also have the issue of career unfreezing, which stemmed from the 2028 State Budget, and there are still situations to be resolved here, namely the payment of retroactive wages to 2018 for some nurses and the accounting of the respective points to the year of start of functions when that start was in the second semester and this ULS did not account for it,” he pointed out.
The third issue concerns the unequal treatment between professionals: “We have nurses with Public Service employment contracts and others with Individual Employment Contracts (CIT), and there are inequalities, particularly regarding vacation days.”
“In the ULS, one vacation day is granted for every 10 years of service to those with public service contracts, but the same does not happen to those with CIT. And those who work in Psychiatry and Oncology, to which the nursing career itself attributes benefits given the hardship, here it only applies to those with public service contracts and those with CIT do not have it, and we demand equality and justice,” he concluded.
The nurses approved a motion that also demands the scheduling of a meeting with the Board of Directors of the ULS of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, which was already requested in May.
Lusa attempted to hear from the ULS of Trás-os-Montes, but it has not been possible so far.
