Doctors in TK on general strike: Healthcare system heading for collapse

(Patria) - Doctors of medicine and dentistry in Tuzla Canton have been on a general strike since this morning, confirmed at a press conference by the Professional Union of Doctors of Medicine and Dentistry of TK.

Union President Prof. Dr. Elvira Konjić stated that the strike was not the doctors' choice but a consequence, as she put it, of months of ignoring their demands and the lack of serious dialogue with the Government of Tuzla Canton.

The general strike is being carried out in health centers Banovići, Kladanj, Živinice, Gračanica, Gradačac, Teočak, Čelić, Srebrenik, and Kalesija, while the strike has not yet been initiated at UKC Tuzla, Health Center Sapna, and Health Center Doboj Istok due to court arbitration regarding the agreement on minimum work during the strike.

- The government pushed us into a strike. We warned for months, were patient, ready for dialogue and seeking solutions, but there was no positive response – said Professor Konjić.

She added that the last meeting with government representatives was held on May 11, but without concrete progress, while the Union received a proposal for a protocol on continuing negotiations on Friday, which they rejected.

- The protocol is not binding and represents a legal way to drag out negotiations indefinitely. We no longer trust empty promises – stated the Union President.

Doctors claim they are fighting for the preservation of the public healthcare system and accessible healthcare, warning that citizens will be the first to feel the consequences of the system's collapse.

- Citizens pay for health insurance and have the right to accessible healthcare services. Precisely because of the government's attitude, this service will now be harder to access – she said.

She emphasized that the strike is currently organized in a "milder form," with minimal denial of health services, but that more radical actions could follow if it is prolonged.

A particularly emotional part of the conference concerned the position of doctors in Tuzla Canton and the authorities' attitude towards doctors. Doctor Irfan Malkić reminded that the Government of TK had promised negotiations on amending the annex to the collective agreement back in 2024, but that nothing concrete had happened for a year.

- We have been negotiating for a year on one article of the annex to the collective agreement. This is a humiliating attitude towards doctors. During this time, the government saved millions, while doctors remained among the lowest paid in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina – said Malkić.

According to him, doctors in TK have up to 30 percent lower incomes than their colleagues in other cantons, while simultaneously working under conditions of immense pressure, staff shortages, and increasing administrative burden.

- We are not asking for privileges. We are asking for equalization of coefficients with colleagues in other cantons and for the representative doctors' union to negotiate on behalf of the doctors – emphasized Malkić.

Doctor Mirsad Šljivić, President of the Assembly of the Union of Doctors of Medicine and Dentistry of TK, also warned about the problem of medical staff leaving.

- We have both external and internal migration of doctors. Colleagues are going to Slovenia, Germany, and Austria, but increasingly also to Sarajevo or the private sector due to better working conditions and higher incomes – said Šljivić.

He pointed out that the departure of specialists and subspecialists represents a serious blow to the healthcare system, especially to UKC Tuzla, where staff training is a long and complex process.

- The public healthcare system may formally exist, but there will be no one to provide healthcare services. That is the essence of our warning – stated Šljivić.

Finally, the Union once again called on the Government of TK to urgently sign the annex to the collective agreement and a binding agreement with the doctors in order to end the strike.

- A solution exists and can be finalized with the stroke of a pen in five minutes – concluded the Union representatives.

Finally, it was stated that the proposed protocol by the Government of TK is essentially buying time because the election campaign begins in four months, and it is questionable with whom the Union will negotiate at all, so this proposal by the Government of TK was assessed as political.