The GdG trade union has called for the Working Time Directive's maximum of 48 hours a week to be applied to doctors. The union argues that more doctors should be employed in order to reduce individual working hours and warns that the definition of inactive hours that might become part of the revised directive will make matters worse for doctors. The union says that patients' interests should be central to this issue and they should have the right to be treated by doctors who work normal hours not who have been exhausted by excessively long shifts.
Read more at > GdG (DE)
Unions want shorter working hours for hospital doctors
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Union welcomes call for shorter hours for hospital doctors
The vida private health sector union has welcomed the initiative of social minister Rudolf Hundstorfer to introduce restrictions on working time for hospital doctors. At the moment doctors can work up to 72 hours a week and up to 32 hours in a single shift. The minister is calling for a maximum 25-hour shift. According to the chamber of doctors, one in five in the profession are suffering symptoms of burn-out while 50% are at risk. This increases the likelihood of errors and threatens the quality of service. [Read more at > vida (DE)->http://www.vida.at/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=S03/Page
Union wants higher pay and shorter hours for nurses
SIPTU is calling for higher pay and shorter hours nurses in evidence to the Benchmarking Body. As part of the long-running series of national agreements public sector workers' pay and conditions are compared to similar jobs in the private sector. SIPTU is arguing that nurses should be properly rewarded for their round-the-clock service and that recruitment and retention bonuses should be paid in response to the shortage of nurses. The union also notes that there have been many changes to the health service and to nurses' responsibilities since the last benchmarking study. [Read more at > SIPTU
24-hour strike by hospital doctors
Hospital doctors protested against changes to the arrangements for how they are appointed and to linking their pay to performance. The 24-hour stoppage took place from 18.30 on 11 May. The FO union is concerned about the implications of the new salary arrangements particularly with many hospitals in financial difficulty. They also see it as a step towards privatisation of public hospitals. Read more at > FOSPS