At a press conference in Coimbra, next to Hospital da Luz, the person responsible for the private sector at SEP, Rui Marroni, said that since January, after the submission of a counter-proposal to the Portuguese Private Hospital Association (APHP), negotiations have been at a standstill, “which makes no sense”.

“In mid-November [2023], APHP presented a proposal to review the current collective labor agreement and SEP presented a counter proposal in January and, in the meantime, we were not called to any negotiation meeting,” he explained.

According to the union leader, the process should be evolving towards a negotiation proposal “which is not happening and, for that reason, the nurses are protesting”.

SEP reported that nurses in the private sector continue to work overtime, with irregular schedules, and without increases or compensation for shift work and difficult hours.

These are the reasons that, according to Rui Marroni, led the union to demand negotiations to include these matters in the collective labor agreement “so that they are guaranteed”, since some institutions, on their own initiative, have moved forward with compensation.

The strike scheduled for 9 July covers the southern districts of Coimbra and Leiria, and the strike scheduled for 10 July covers the northern districts, with street gatherings in Lisbon, in front of the APHP headquarters, on the first day, and in front of the CUF Hospital, in Porto, on the second day.

If a meeting is called and negotiations progress, SEP is available to analyse the cancellation of the strike, which is only done so that “there is some pressure on the entity that can promote negotiations (APHP)”.

SEP estimates that 4,200 nurses work in private hospitals, the majority of them in units owned by large economic groups.