Union looks to shorter hours and better pay to address staff shortages

Switzerland

The vpod/ssp public services union is continuing to sound the alarm over urgent staff shortages in healthcare. It says that action is needed to retain staff as well as recruit new workers and that initiatives to shorten the working week can help. Reductions to weekly working hours have been introduced or are being planned in the Wetzikon and Felix Platter hospitals along with the Siloah and Lindenhof health groups. Meanwhile, vpod/ssp reports that Aargau hospitals have significantly increased their allowances for weekend and holiday shifts. The union is also continuing to press employers to ensure that all time required to change in and out of uniforms is counted as paid working time with legal action planned at the Solothurn Cantonal Hospital and protest action at the Geneva University Hospital HUG. In the Fribourg cantonal hospital of Fribourg, specialists in anaesthesia are threatening strike action in September if their wages are not significantly increased.

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