Government forgot them: FBiH doctors' union demands resolution of healthcare issues or threatens strike

(Patria) - The Union of Professional Associations of Doctors of Medicine and Dentistry of FBiH issued a press release stating that the healthcare system of FBiH has received only unfulfilled promises from the minister and the government, and that it will decide on a work stoppage, a strike, if there is no concrete step by the FBiH government in resolving healthcare issues by the end of the month.

"The Union of Professional Associations of Doctors of Medicine and Dentistry held a warning strike on October 26, 2023, to draw attention to the delay in resolving healthcare issues by the FBiH government. We abandoned all other legal forms of struggle at that time because on November 8, 2023, at a meeting with the federal minister of health, we received a promise that we would complete the procedure necessary to start negotiations by the end of November. It seems that the story from the first meeting is repeating itself and that the healthcare system of FBiH again has only unfulfilled promises from the minister and the government. While the FBiH government signs collective agreements with other unions, our union is completely ignored," the statement reads.

From the union, they emphasize that they will not give up on their demands and call on the federal minister of health to show responsibility and prepare everything for negotiations, and on the FBiH government to show that it is a government that citizens can count on.

"If there is no concrete step by the FBiH government in resolving healthcare issues by the end of the month, we will decide on a work stoppage, a strike, and the FBiH government will be responsible for not providing the citizens of FBiH with what they are entitled to, which are healthcare services and a stable healthcare system. We will also, with the union's legal advisor, initiate a court battle to end discrimination against healthcare workers," they stated from the Union of Professional Associations of Doctors of Medicine and Dentistry of FBiH.