“We support the doctors’ strike” – “No more exploitation”

“The nurses’ and midwives’ trade union supports the protest” – ,,We’re with you”

– Regional Children’s Hospital, Torun, 22 August 2007

In-depth analysis from June 2007:

Poland’s Health Care Workers’ Strike: new challenges and old problems

Poland’s Health Care Workers’ Strike: new challenges and old problems

The Doctor’s Strike and the Nurses’ Occupation

Poland is entering the sixth week [June 2007] of a very serious doctors’ strike. Thousands of doctors around the country have been protesting the state of the health care system and one of its main problems: low wages for health care professionals and long working hours, usually compounded by the fact that most people work extra shifts to make ends meet. Many doctors also have handed in their notice as a direct action, saying they’d rather quit than work under these conditions.

The strike was called by some doctors and did not relate to all health care workers, which irritated some other members of the medical profession, most particularly nurses, who also wanted to take action. In former strike actions, it has typically, for whatever reason, been nurses, not doctors who have taken part in and organized more radical direct actions, and this time the same happened. About one month into the strike, the nurses organized a mass demonstration to Warsaw and started a protest action that is finally breathing some life into the struggle. ...