Turkish Medical Workers Strike for Better Rights and Pay

Turkish medical workers’ strike in Istanbul. Photo: Turkish Medical Union, TTB Turkish Medical Workers Strike for Better Rights and PayHamdi Firat BuyukSarajevoBIRNJune 15, 202213:54 Turkish medics downed tools on Wednesday as part of a nation-wide strike for better rights, conditions and pay.

Turkish medical workers staged a strike on Wednesday, demanding better rights, protection and pay.

“Today is a historic day. We are demanding our rights. June 15 is a white day. All medical doctors and workers are striking for their rights,” Sebnem Korur Fidanci, President of the Turkish Medical Association, TTB, told the press on Wednesday in parliament.

“We are giving life and we want to live! Our job has no night or day. We will not shut our eyes to a health system that makes us sick,” Fidanci added.

Ten medical unions and organisations called on their members to strike on Wednesday with the motto, “We want our rights, not more delays”.

More than 100,000 medical workers were expected to join the one-day strike.

“We demand your support by not applying to medical institutions except for urgent matters,” medical unions and organisations said in a joint statement, asking for the people’s support.

During the strike, hospitals across the country remained empty.

Doctors and other medical unions have been demanding new laws and regulations to protect them from violence and tough working conditions.

A report published by the Union of Health and Social Service Workers said violence against medical workers increased by 62 per cent in 2021. That year, 364 medical workers were attacked and 316 lost their lives.

The report suggested only 11.3 per cent of the attackers were imprisoned for their violence.

Some 37 per cent of the attackers were released after a short period of detention while another 16.8 per cent were subject to administrative investigations. A third of the number, 34 per cent, walked free without investigation or punishment.

The economic crisis and skyrocketing inflation have also made medical workers’ lives harder, but the government has delayed promised salary increases several times.

Violence against medical workers, the government’s inaction and low salaries are considered the main reasons fuelling the current exodus of medical doctors.

Some 405 doctors left Turkey in 2021 and in the first four months of 2022 alone, another 781 medical doctors also left. The TTB expects the number to reach a minimum of 2,500 this year.

The government adopted a new bill on May 27 to curb violence against medical workers but medical unions and organisations say it is not enough, and that an overarching medical reform is the only solution.