National mobilisation in unions’ “health offensive” campaign

Public and private sector health unions (younion, GÖD, vida and GPA-djp) have joined with the chamber of labour and chamber of doctors in a campaign - "health offensive". The aim is to achieve major change across the health and long-term care sectors and tackle some of the long-standing issues of understaffing and overwork that have been exposed by the impact of COVID-19. The unions have managed to establish a structured dialogue with the health ministry to address seven key issues - staffing, working conditions, training, career development, investment and ensuring service provision.

The four trade unions in public and private healthcare – younion, GÖD, vida and GPA – have joined forces with the ÖGB trade union confederation, the Chamber of Labour and Chamber of doctors in a “health offensive” to push for increased funding for health and long-term care. On 24 February the organisations joined in demonstrations across the country under the banner “It’s five past midnight” to promote a national petition calling for action on pay and conditions, staffing and training.

The POEDHN health workers’ union, supported by the ADEDY public sector trade union confederation, organised a national demonstration on 22 February with calls for urgent action on health service funding. The union is demanding increased staffing and measures to address the widespread use of precarious contracts across the health service. It is also continuing to campaign for better pay and conditions with many health workers facing low pay, often little more than the minimum wage. This is a long-term legacy of austerity with pay cuts imposed in 2009 and pay frozen since 2015.