Nurses and midwives from all over Poland demonstrated in Warsaw against demotion, professional discrimination and disproportionate earnings. They submitted a civil law to the Sejm, which is intended to strengthen their position in the health care sector.
The demonstrators held banners with the inscriptions: “Education is important”, “Nurses today for the Sejm, finally let the Prime Minister take over!”, “Stop discrimination, stop degradation!”.
The protest is related to the amendment of the Minimum Basic Salary Method Determination Act for Certain Employees Working in Healthcare Institutions, which entered into force on 1 July 2022. According to the protesters, the salaries of nurses and midwives were chaotic after July 1, 2022. The protesters believe that the chaos in nurses’ and midwives’ salaries after July 1, 2022 could have been avoided by passing amendments to the law drafted by the National Union of Nurses and Midwives in parliament.
We want to reduce mismatches between nurses and midwives; that we have recognized qualifications is not required
Mariola Łodzińska, president of the Supreme Council of Nurses and Midwives, told PAP.
Required and held qualifications
She noted that nurses and midwives had “recognized these qualifications” before June 30, 2022.
At the time, our salaries were funded through the National Health Fund, but through funds that were segregated and dedicated only to salaries. When these funds were incorporated into the hospital’s contracts and budget – that’s when the problems started and at this point the majority of nurses have no recognized qualifications or directors are canceling their pay terms
she pointed out.
She added that in order to link salaries to actual qualifications, the legal provision “qualifications required” in the law should be changed to “available qualifications”. To this end, the National Board of the National Union of Nurses and Midwives decided to launch a civil legislative initiative.
Ruling party spokesman Rafał Bochenek referred to the strike of nurses and midwives and noted that the issue of pay needs to be addressed at the hospital level.
Because today, the remuneration of individual nurses depends on the contract between a particular nurse and her employer. Indeed, this should be resolved somehow within the individual hospitals where these nurses work
said Bochenek.
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Protesters filed a draft amendment to the law on the method of determining the minimum base salary of certain workers in healthcare facilities with the Sejm Registry Office. About 127,000 were collected. signatures.
It aims to increase the work coefficients for the 5th and 6th occupational groups, which, among other things, increases their income, links wages to their actual qualifications and guarantees the transfer of funds to cover the increase in the minimum wage.
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Mon/PAP
Source: wPolityce