Nurses and midwives from across Poland gathered in Warsaw to protest demotion, professional discrimination and earnings that were not aligned with work. They presented a draft civil law to the Sejm aimed at strengthening their position within the health care system.
Banner slogans carried by the protesters read, “Education matters,” “Nurses today for the Sejm, let the Prime Minister take charge now,” and “End discrimination, end degradation.”
The demonstration is connected to a change concerning the Minimum Basic Salary Method Determination Act for Certain Employees Working in Healthcare Institutions, which took effect on July 1, 2022. Protesters argue that nurses and midwives faced salary chaos after that date. They believe this confusion could have been prevented if amendments to the law, drafted by the National Union of Nurses and Midwives and submitted to parliament, had been enacted.
There is a push to reduce mismatches between recognized qualifications and pay. The aim is to ensure that the existence of recognized qualifications is not treated as a prerequisite for wage progression.
Mariola Łodzińska, president of the Supreme Council of Nurses and Midwives, spoke to PAP about the issue.
Required and held qualifications
She emphasized that nurses and midwives had recognized these qualifications before June 30, 2022.
At the time, funding for salaries came from the National Health Fund through segregated funds dedicated specifically to compensation. When these funds were folded into hospital contracts and budgets, problems emerged, leaving many nurses without recognized qualifications or leading to directors rescinding pay terms, she noted.
She added that to align salaries with actual qualifications, the legal provision stating “qualifications required” should be changed to “available qualifications.” To pursue this, the National Board of the National Union of Nurses and Midwives resolved to launch a civil legislative initiative.
A spokesperson for the ruling party, Rafał Bochenek, referred to the nurses and midwives’ strike and stated that pay concerns must be addressed at the hospital level.
Today, remuneration for individual nurses depends on the contract between the nurse and the employer. Bochenek suggested that a resolution may need to occur within the hospitals where these nurses work.
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Protesters submitted a draft amendment to the law on the method of determining the minimum base salary of certain workers in healthcare facilities to the Sejm Registry Office. About 127,000 signatures were collected.
The proposal aims to increase the work coefficients for the 5th and 6th occupational groups, which, among other things, would raise incomes, tie wages to actual qualifications and ensure the transfer of funds to cover the increase in the minimum wage.
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Mon/PAP
Source: wPolityce