ZAGREB, August 14, 2019 - Health Minister Milan Kujundžić said on Wednesday that the government would find a way to increase healthcare workers' salaries by four percent, asking healthcare workers for understanding as salaries could not be increased more, while unions of healthcare workers said they would not give up on their demand for a wage increase and could not rule out a strike.
Kujundžić said that the unions had negotiated in the most fair way, with their demands regarding the wage increase being modest.
"I believe the government will find a way to increase the salaries of healthcare workers by 4% and I hope those workers will understand that currently their salaries cannot go up more," said the minister.
"The current delay is only due to the need to make adjustments in the budget and due to possible requests for a wage increase in other sectors. The government has understanding. We must keep our doctors and nurses who are very much sought-after in Europe," the minister said, adding that the problem would be resolved in the coming weeks.
The leader of the SSZSSH union of healthcare and welfare workers, Stjepan Topolnjak, said that unions would not give up on their demands, noting that he also could not rule out a strike.
Unions in the healthcare sector expect salaries in that sector to go up by 3% in August and by 4% in October.
Topolnjak said that negotiations on higher salaries had lasted for a year and a half.
"The government still does not realise that medical workers are leaving the country in search of better work conditions and that there is already a shortage of medical staff," he said.
He added that he expected specific figures on funds to be allocated to the healthcare sector to be put on the table at talks set for August 20.
Talks on higher salaries in the health sector should not depend on similar talks with other public services, he said, recalling that salaries in the education sector would go up by 4% in October and by 2% in January 2020.
"The government must know that there is not enough personnel in the health system, that people are emigrating, not only medical workers but non-medical workers as well. There is no time to lose," Topolnjak said.
More news about the healthcare system can be found in the Lifestyle section.
