Health workers start two-day strike on Doctor's Day

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Health workers have started a two-day strike demanding improved employee rights and working conditions.

Members of the İstanbul Medical Chamber who wanted to lay a wreath at the Atatürk Monument on Taksim Square to mark the Doctor's Day were prevented by the police. In protest, they left the wreath on the police barricades, Evrensel newspaper reported.

"On the 102nd anniversary of March 14, we wanted to lay a wreath and voice our demands as we do every year," said Osman Küçükosmanoğlu, the secretary of the chamber. "They told us, 'You can lay a wreath but you can't read out a statement.' We are leaving our wreaths in front of the police barricades."

"We know that these days will be over. See you on [Doctor's Days] which we will celebrate like a feast," he added.

The chamber later released the statement that was going to be read out in front of the monument.

"The executives of this healthcare system neither care about our labor nor the health of the public. However, when it comes to protecting private healthcare businesses and the rich, they know no limits," says the statement.

The doctors also criticize President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who recently said, in the face of a record higher number of doctors emigrating to western countries, that "Let them go then, we'll employ our newly graduated doctors."

"While hundreds of thousands of our people and hundreds of doctors and health workers lost their lives, they spent days praising the healthcare system and city hospitals; they said, 'Let them go,' despite our work and sacrifice.

"First of all and once again, we would like to emphasize: In the most difficult days of the pandemic, we were here with all our sacrifice despite your unscientific management of the pandemic; we will be here in the future as we were here in the past.

"... We can no longer tolerate even a single day of violence in healthcare and these working conditions where we can't get what our work is worth.

"We don't want to be stalled; we want just what we deserve, not more.

"We want humane working conditions where we are not overwhelmed under the pressure of malpractice.

"We want humane wages that will be reflected on our retirement.

"We want to provide quality care where we can allocate at least 20 minutes for an examination and where patients don't wait for months for an appointment." (EMK/VK)