POEDIN has decided to proceed today, Wednesday, October 11, with a total work stoppage from 11 am to 3 pm, while it will hold a protest rally at 12:00 at the General Accounting Office of the State (University 37), on the occasion of the economic and labor problems that facing the Public Health and Welfare sector, and which have led to the mass exodus of health workers.

As POEDIN points out in its announcement, “Public Health – Welfare is not going to make up 5% of GDP with public health expenditure when the European average is at least two units higher” underlining that with “such amount of expenditure the quality is constantly being degraded of the services provided and citizens are putting their hands deeper and deeper into their pockets.

The salaries of health workers are a disincentive to cover the serious gaps faced by the Health Units, EKAV and Pronoia”. At the same time, he notes that “with salaries below the minimum wage of an unskilled worker, they will not come to the National Health System to work.

They prefer the private sector and especially abroad”, while as he even mentions “the regulation of the Dangerous and Unhealthy Work Allowance is inferior to the circumstances since very small increases are granted to some specialties (e.g. nursing), but huge injustices are created by the separation, the exclusion of thousands of front-line health workers from the allowance”.

POEDIN emphasizes that the big loser is the citizen when he needs health services.

Finally, he calls for the immediate permanence of contract workers, an increase in wages, hourly wages and the inclusion of workers in Heavy and Unhealthy Professions, saying that “it is the greatest injustice and unequal treatment towards the health workers who during the pandemic have had their fill of laudatory comments”.