Hospital staff hold one-day strike
STAFF from Lefkoşa Dr Burhan Nalbantoğlu State Hospital staged a oneday strike on Wednesday over claims that health workers have not been paid any overtime for five months and other “unresolved” issues.
The strike, from 8am to 1pm, was organised by the Cyprus Turkish Civil Servants Trade Union (KTAMS) and involved members of the hospital’s Radiology Department.
KTAMS members also placed a black wreath in front of the Health Ministry and issued a statement to the press.
Güven Bengihan, the head of KTAMS, said that the main reason for making a statement was the “lack of solutions” for health workers’ problems and that staff are “unhappy and anxious” due to “arbitrary and partisan” decisions made by Health Minister Ünal Üstel.
Mr Bengihan said that healthcare professionals have shown dedication, made sacrifices and put themselves at risk during the fight against the pandemic but that they had not been rewarded.
“Forget about a reward, personnel aren’t even given their existing rights,” he said.
Despite working “twice their monthly hours”, Mr Bengihan stated that “100 to 150 hours of overtime” have been “thrown away”.
Mr Bengihan explained that since the start of the pandemic, X-ray technicians working in radiology have been on their own, while providing one-on-one service during the fight against the pandemic, as well as handling other chronic diseases and road traffic accidents.
He said he had written to the Health Ministry twice regarding the matter.
Health workers have also been subjected to “undeserved attacks” and there is a lack of personnel in the “entire health sector”, he claimed.
Stating that a total of 300 “seasonal” workers, 210 “temporary” workers and 45 “contracted” workers are employed, Mr Bengihan said: “We still say that there is a shortage of healthcare personnel. People who hear this say to us ‘will your need for personnel ever end?’.”
Mr Bengihan claimed that the reason for the lack of personnel is that some employees “don’t even turn up to work” and that some were attending political party events for elections or going on “village visits” with MPs.
Mr Bengihan alleged that there is “no hiring based on requirements” and that health workers who came to work from other regions were not paid for their services. He accused Mr Üstel of making “arbitrary assignments and appointments”.