Visit from HEALTH-SEN to MPs for the Right to Diplomas

ANKARA - Sağlık-Sen President Mahmut Faruk Doğan attended the Provincial Divan Meeting of Ankara Branch No. 7 and met with the organization. At the meeting, Doğan evaluated the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) process and the struggle they carried out afterwards, and stated that they will continue their actions in front of the Turkish Parliament and that they will make the voices of health workers heard by going door-to-door, especially to MPs of physician origin.

Doğan said, "We protested in the parliament; we said hear the voices of civil servants, nurses and physicians. Our protests will continue. We are knocking on the doors of deputies of physician origin in the parliament. We will do this as a union to get the right to the diploma of the nurse and the diploma of the physician."

"Gains Not Achieved Only Through CBA"

Emphasizing that they went into the collective bargaining process with a detailed preparation, President Doğan stated that the gains came not only at the table but also supported by academic studies. Doğan said that before the process, they conducted surveys across Turkey, organized workshops on professional branches, and collected articles, especially on the issue of night watch, by meeting with Ankara and Hacettepe universities.

Emphasis on Different Salaries for Night Workers

Noting that the vast majority of health workers work night shifts, Mahmut Faruk Doğan announced one of his most important goals for the coming period:

"In the coming period, we will strive for a different salary for night workers. 80% of health workers work night shifts. In an earthquake, in a disaster, in Covid, all officers are at home, we are in the field in emergency response. We will continue to do this kind of work."

Social Unionism and City Hospitals Report

Stating that they have adopted a social unionism approach, Doğan said that they provide services to members with 2 hotels in Ankara and 1 hotel in Istanbul, and that they host 112 employees who bring emergency cases free of charge regardless of union membership.

Dan Doğan also stated that they have prepared a report on city hospitals in response to questions from representatives and that they are working to solve the problems in these hospitals. Referring to the importance of the decision to consider physician and nurse uniforms as special duty clothes, which is one of the CBA gains, Doğan stated that such rights gains are more valuable than cash aid in an inflationary environment.

Ankara Branch No. 7 President Kadir Civelek stated that Sağlık-Sen had the most effective Collective Bargaining process with 29 articles of achievements and that they are currently working on salary promotions on their agenda and that they are carrying out the process with the Headquarters on this issue.