Healthcare workers in Italy staged a 24-hour strike over inadequate pay rises, calling on prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s government to cancel the recently approved budget, according to Euractiv.
Doctors and nurses took to the streets to protest the budget law, which cancelled a long-awaited plan to hire 30,000 new staff. Instead, the government proposed a minimum wage increase, which health workers said was insufficient.
Despite the strike, emergency services were still guaranteed. Doctors and nurses argued that modest pay rises did not address the sector’s chronic underfunding. They are currently among the lowest paid workers in Europe.
This is a significant message highlighting the unacceptable working conditions in hospitals across Italy and the widespread support for our cause among colleagues.
The unions highlighted problems, such as lack of resources and dissatisfaction of citizens and health workers who were increasingly confronted with aggression and general discontent. They sent an open letter to Meloni requesting an urgent meeting to address the issues and their grievances. The workers cited a lack of resources, increased violence in the workplace and growing staff resentment.
While it is true that the current government has allocated the highest amount ever to the National Health Fund. These funds are spread over the next five years and, after accounting for contract renewals, are well below the inflation rate, making them inadequate to sustain a healthcare system already in serious trouble. These funds are only enough to maintain the status quo.
Former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte also criticised the measures taken by the Meloni administration. Conte emphasised that instead of addressing health issues, Italy was allocating funds for armaments, supporting the European military agenda.
While doctors, nurses and health workers are in the streets against historic low investments in health care, the Government went to Warsaw to say yes to a Eurobond plan to finance weapons and war. We brought 209 billion from Europe to Italy for health care, schools, infrastructure, public works, they brought cuts to social services from Brussels and now they want to focus everything on armaments.
The industrial action marks the beginning of a wider wave of labour unrest in Italy. Railway workers are also expected to take to the streets over the weekend of 23-24 November. They will be followed by a general strike organised by the CGIL-UIL union. Only railway workers will be excluded at the request of the labour authorities.
