Health, Slovenia

The Health and Social Welfare Union is the latest public sector union to commit to joining the national strike on 4 December and it has called on other unions in the health sector to support the action. The unions are waiting for a commitment from the government to negotiate over the public sector pay structure and measures to address cuts in pay. The unions want to see implementation of an agreement earlier this year to reverse an 8% cut in pay grades and some specific measures covering education workers. In particular, the unions want to maintain the public sector-wide pay structure.

At least 17 public sector unions are planning to take part in a one-day strike on 24 January to demand an end to austerity and to the retention of the single pay system for all public sector workers. The unions are concerned about pay deals with doctors, public sector directors and senior managers in the state holding company that call into question the single pay structure in the public sector. In the meantime, the firefighters' union has called off action planned for 10 January following government agreement to regrading of 14 posts within the fire service.

Public service workers took strike action on 24 January calling for a pay rise. Pay was cut by 8% in 2012 and has been frozen since then despite growth in the economy, The unions are also calling for the single public sector pay structure to be maintained as a fair way of setting pay across the public services.The strike was supported by nearly 20 unions covering a broad range of workers including health and social services, defence, justice, fire services, education, research and other parts of government.

Following almost three months of intensive negotiations, 80% of employees in health and social care will receive pay increases of between 4% and 24% this month. However, such are the staffing and workload problems in these sectors, that further negotiations will take place in January to address workloads as well as the fact that some health and care staff are not covered by the initial agreement. Existing staffing shortages have been made worse as health and social staff have left the sector because of the stress and overwork resulting from the pandemic. Around 35000 healthcare, social care

Health unions came together with representatives of trade union confederations to criticise a proposed amendment to the Health Care and Insurance Act. The unions argue that the amendment is effectively revenge for recent trade union protests against government policy and that it will deny trade unions and workers representation on health institution management bodies. Trade unions and confederations across all sectors have been engaged in protests over the refusal of the government to engage in social dialogue. This is just the latest example of the government failing to consult and putting

Public sector unions, including those in the PSSJS confederation, were set to organise a national rally in Ljubljana on 7 December to push for government action on a range of key pay and conditions issues. The unions want the government to commit to implementation of wage indexation in 2024 and completion of the reform of the public sector wage system by 30 June 2026. They are also calling for the elimination of wage discrepancies across different parts of the public sector which should ensure that large parts of the public sector get the level of wage increases already agreed for some groups

The SZSVS health union reports that a new agreement covering the public sector is close to being finalised with a 4.5% pay increase due from 1 October this year. There will also be increases to the lunch allowances and some starting salaries will be moved up one pay bracket from April 2023. There will also be additional compensation ranging from €100 to €300 for the lower paid. However, several matters affecting different pay categories of health workers, that prompted a strike earlier this year, remain unresolved and firefighters are also concerned to see some occupations move up the pay

The ZSVS health union reports that an agreement covering public sector pay and other benefits for 2022 and 2023 was signed by the majority of unions on 13 October. Pay rises range between 4.5% and 8.5% and there are increases to compensation for annual leave and food allowances. As part of the agreement, the government undertakes to adopt systemic changes to the wage system by 30 June 2023, addressing issues relating to the wage gap in the lower third of the pay scale and the minimum wage. The union is continuing to negotiate on pay for health and social care workers and to close the gap with

Trade unions organising in health and social care are calling for strike action on 16 February. They are unhappy that the government has postponed negotiations on pay levels and job rankings that it was committed to in an agreement signed last year. The unions want to see pay levels across the health sector adjusted to ensure fairness across the public sector. They have been further angered by the government’s unilateral decision to deal separately with doctors and dentists which had been previously been part of the public sector-wide negotiations.