Healthcare unions strike and demonstrate over funding and staff shortages
Nine unions representing health workers in the Basque region – ELA, SATSE, LAB, SME, UGT, CCOO, ESK, SAE and UTESE – are calling for urgent action to increase funding for healthcare and deal with staff shortages. Strikes took place on 29 October in the Araba province, on 5 November in Gipuzkoa and then on 12 November further action is due in Bizkaia. The unions say that the public health system is facing a serious situation across primary care, hospitals and mental health. Workers are physically and emotionally exhausted because of high workloads with further problems arising from high rates