The council of Latvian Health and Social Care Workers’ Trade Union (LVSADA) decided on Tuesday, 20 September, to organise a repeated warning strike on 27th and 28th of September.
During this strike it is planned to hold a protest outside the Cabinet of Ministers building.
LVSADA stresses that after the first warning strike held on 27 July and the rally outside the Ministry of Health, the institution did not show any initiative to fulfil demands of the strike.
As previously reported by the trade union’s coordinator Inga Rudzīte, the organisation has tried looking for a compromise, adding that demands have been reduced since the reconciliation talks held with the ministry in autumn 2021.
Currently only one demand remains – LVSADA insists that, in accordance with the previous decision of the Cabinet of Ministers, the wage of doctors and functional specialists should reach at least EUR 1 862, the wage of treatment and patient care staff and assistants of functional specialists is to be at least EUR 1 117, and the wage of treatment and patient care support staff is to reach at least EUR 745.
According to this demand, the state-guaranteed average wage in the second half of 2022 should reach EUR 2 048 before taxes for doctors and functional specialists, EUR 1 229 for treatment and patient care support staff and functional specialists’ assistants, and EUR 820 for treatment and patient care support staff.
LVSADA notes that one of the biggest problems that exist in Latvia’s healthcare is the shortage of workers, and the main cause of this problem is the abnormally low wages.
The European Commission, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Bank all mentioned this to the Latvian government and the Saeima in the past. Data from the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia indicate that healthcare is among the top five earning industries in the country.
LVSADA stresses that when approving the National Development plan for 2021-2027, the parliament stressed that it is necessary to significantly increase the wages paid to workers in the public health sector.
According to LVSADA, the government under Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš pretends to know nothing of this, like it pretends to know nothing of demands of the strike.
The Ministry of Health, on the other hand, stresses that in recent years the state budget funding diverted towards healthcare has grown considerably, reaching EUR 1.54 billion in 2022.
Between 2017 and 2022 the government diverted a total of EUR 467.21 million towards the increase of wages of medical personnel in Latvia.
To improve accessibility of healthcare services, one of the biggest challenges is providing qualified medical personnel who would provide state-financed services, the ministry admits. According to the institution, an additional amount of EUR 35 million was diverted towards wages of medical personnel in 2022.
From 1 January 2022 onward the average wage tariff for doctors and functional specialists is increased from EUR 1 862 to EUR 1 963. Wages of treatment and patient care staff and functional specialists’ assistants is increased from EUR 1 117 to EUR 1 183.
Additionally, in 2022 doctors’ and functional specialists’ lowest monthly wage amount was increased by 4.4% – from EUR 1 489 to EUR 1 555. The lowest wages of nurses and certified assistant doctors was increased by 4.74% – from EUR 985 to EUR 1 032, the ministry explains.