Nurses Still on Strike

Published

Sent to me by a friend & thought it may interest others here........

The strike of nurses continues, since two days they are

occuping the ministry of health. Two days ago they attacked police with

eggs, and are threatening to blockade border crossings and railway

connections.

The government was always ignoring the nurses, because they were

about the only worker group in Poland which didn't make violent protests,

with attacks on police and government buildings. I guess that the nurses

are learning that there's no other way.

Regards

Mark

--

http://www.rnld.co.uk

Learning Difficulty Nursing Links

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PLEASE! Throwing eggs? How is this going to help our cause? It makes us seem like a bunch of idiots. If this is not so, please tell me how it helps us? I do not plan on throwing ANYTHING during the Million Nurse March. Anyone else?

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Hi PPL

Yeah it does sound a bit strange throwing eggs, but the part about "..threatening to blockade border crossings and railway connections.." sounds a bit more militant. I'd be interested in hearing other reports about this strike but i can't seem to find anything on most news sites, any ideas?

Regards

Mark

--

http://www.rnld.co.uk

Learning Difficulty Nursing Links

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Yeah, I'd like to know more too. Is the strike in Poland? I wasn't clear on this, but I'm Polish(3rd generation)so just interested. Can your friend enlighten us more? Is your friend involved in the strike? Well there! I didn't help at all, just added to the mystery; maybe SOMEONE knows SOMETHING! Maybe their government is keeping it hush?

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Hi

I found this at http://www.warsaw.com/?action=display&article=4881672&template=warsaw/index.txt&index=recent

Polish Nurses Protest Pay

The Associated Press, Sat 16 Dec 2000

WARSAW, Poland (AP)-Hundreds of Polish nurses blocked international railroads and border crossings around the country Saturday as part of mounting protests for higher pay.

About 400 nurses walked across the rails of the Moscow-Berlin route in the central town of Konin for a couple of hours in an effort to force the government into wage talks. One regional train was delayed for about an hour.

Nurses resisted three attempts by police to remove them from the tracks and then left, saying they would block the railroad again if the government does not take their complaints seriously, said Jolanta Piatek, head of the Konin nurses union.

Nurses also blocked border crossings in western Kostrzyn and Slubice on the Polish-German border and in eastern Terespol on the Polish-Belarusian border. Border traffic was suspended.

The nurses at the Terespol crossing carried banners reading ``Governments change, nurses have subsistence wages'' and ``Enough of poverty,'' according to PAP news agency.

The nurses began sporadic protests and sit-ins a month ago, stepping up their action Wednesday when about 50,000 of the country's 250,000 nurses and midwives left their jobs for up to eight hours.

There was widespread cancelation of surgeries, and some hospitals limited admissions to emergency cases.

Nurses make $115 to $205 a month, well below the national average of $454 a month.

The government, which has struggled to reform the health care system it inherited from the old communist regime, so far is willing to discuss only general reforms. Health Minister Grzegorz Opala has said salary issues should be resolved by hospital managers.

But the cash-strapped managers, many who say the government hasn't allocated enough for hospitals and clinics, have been reluctant to open salary negotiations.

Regards

Mark

--

http://www.rnld.co.uk

Learning Difficulty Nursing Links

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Someone said they saw a picture of these nurses being hauled off by the police!

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