photo - PAP/Jacek TurczykThe nurses union in Poland (OZZPiP) has sent a letter to the civil rights ombudsman demanding intervention in a dispute where five nurses are on hunger strike and occupying the gallery in the parliament building in Warsaw.
“A hunger strike and occupation of Parliament in going on in the middle of Europe and the Ombudsman will not speak on this issue,” OZZPiP president Dorota Gardias told Polish Radio.
The nurses are protesting a new draft law on medical services adopted last Friday, which introduces labour contracts for staff instead of permanent forms of employment.
The trade union is objecting to the contracts, which they say lead to exploitation of nurses who have fewer rights, longer working hours and less quality time for patients.
Union chief Dorota Gardias says the government cannot introduce such basic changes to Poland’s health care system without prior dialogue with health professionals and patients.
The nurses, who have been protesting for seven days now, have also written a letter to First Lady Anna Komorowska calling for intervention in the dispute.
“We are asking Anna Komorowska [to intervene] because she is a woman and, as a mother, is interested in the situation of nurses,” said one of the protesting nurses Ewa Obuchowska.
She added that the protesters want to invite the First Lady the parliament building to witness for herself the condition of the hunger striking nurses. “They have been starving for three days,” says Dorota Gardias. (pg)