Meeting at Health Ministry and Solidarity with Striking Nurses

A group of nurses from the Polish Union of Nurses and Midwives have been protesting in front of the Health Ministry in Warsaw for the last two days in solidarity with striking nurses from the Beskid Region. The nurses have been on strike there for two weeks, demanding they be given raises promised them in 2006-2007.

The leaders of the nurse's union went to talk to Health Minister Ewa Kopacz yesterday, but she offered no suggestions and tried to shirk off responsibility for decision making in this area. This is a common problem nurses face every time they ask for a raise. The Health Minister claimed that it is the decision of the hospital directors whether or not to give raises. The hospital directors in turn blame the National Health Fund, the Voivodship or the Health Ministry for not allocated sufficient funds.

After the meeting, nurses announced they were considering a nationwide protest.

“There are no norms, no effective control over funds and no wage increases. Nurses are becoming an extinct profession with the average age of a Polish nurse at around 45 years old. The health ministry creates no incentives for young people to undertake education in this profession,” said Dorota Gardias, head of the union.