JINHA

NEWS CENTER – 70,000 health workers across Turkey began a three-day strike May 20 against the Ministry of Health's new obligation that primary care physicians work on weekends, instituted earlier this year.

The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) announced on May 20 that the three-day-long strike against the Health Ministry’s pressure and threat to fire their employees over missing mandatory weekend shifts and drudgery had started across the country, with the participation of primary care physicians.

Health workers in Istanbul, Ankara, Van, Diyarbakır, Şırnak, Mersin, Mardin and Adana have been on strike and holding protests and actions since the morning hours yesterday. The parliamentary candidates of the HDP (Peoples' Democratic Party) are supporting the strike.

In Istanbul, striking physicians gathered at Beşiktaş' Democracy Square for an action. They were joined by HDP Istanbul MP candidate Dr. Tahsin Yeşildere, the head of the Istanbul Chamber of Veterinary Doctors.

"The AKP government's end has been different than it expected," said Samet Menguç of the Istanbul Chamber of Physicians. "That's why they have increased health workers' burdens everyday." Samet denounced Ministry of Health bureaucrats working 9-5 days and pushing a heavy workload onto health workers to discipline and exploit them.

The Ministry of Health has obliged primary care physicians, including family doctors, to work on Saturdays in addition to the obligatory working schedule of 40 hours a week. The Ministry is issuing penalty points to doctors who do not work Saturday shifts.

A Health Ministry circular issued April 9, 2014 announced the decision, which took effect as of January 3, 2015, but doctors have widely resisted working on weekends. Provincial public health directorates started launching investigations into physicians who did not show up for their Saturday shifts. On April 16, the ministry increased the penalty points issued for the violation. With this change, some doctors face losing their contracts due to a high cumulative number of penalty points.

(nt/cm)