Nurses strike • "Tremendous lack of nurses and terrible burden"

Nurses in hospitals across the country opened a strike this morning (Monday). The reason: the negotiations with them reached an impasse, and the understandings that were reached last strike - are not respected, they contend.

Public hospital are working in Shabbos format, in institutes and outpatient clinics nurses do not work at all.

The nurses claim that they were promised in March already that in September negotiations will start with them, at the end of which a collective agreement will be signed. "At first they told us after the holidays, now they come and say, 'It's election time now' and don't refer to the agreements. Meanwhile, patients are in hospital corridors - and nurses are exploited. But we've stopped being suckers. We have to reach an agreement that will be a real solution, to put an end to the exploitation of nurses on the one hand, and harm to patients on the other hand. We are going on strike because the agreements should be respected," explained Chairman of the nurses union, Ilana Cohen.

Chairman of the nurses' committee of Ichilov, Shaul Zakai, added: "Our profession is in a deep crisis. There is a huge shortage of nurses, because of which there is a terrible burden on the nurses that are in the system, which impairs the quality of care provided. "

The treasury say: this was a violation of the collective agreement signed with the nurses, which is valid until the beginning of 2013, and that they had every intention to continue to conduct negotiations as promised with the nurses, but they are "cynically exploiting the fact that this is a time of elections."

Treasury also noted that the average salary of nurses is 15.5 thousand shekels, almost twice the national average wage.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!