People who during the coronavirus pandemic were ready to make sacrifices saving the lives of others, are now forced to think about their own existence and that of their families, said the president of the Independent Health Union of Montenegro (SSZCG), Mihailo Babović, adding that this is a moral defeat of the health system and of the whole society.
Asked to comment on the fact that the Podgorica Health Center will not extend the contracts of 25 nurses and technicians who were employed during the pandemic, Babović told the MINA agency that the Montenegrin health system, unfortunately, has been a victim of politics in recent decades, which does not have a clear vision of when that system concerned.
"From decades of obscurity, wanderings are born, and now also insults of those who were ready, as their profession dictates, to sacrifice for the sake of the weak, sick and life-threatened," said Babović.
The director of the Podgorica Health Center, Danilo Jokić, confirmed to the MINA agency that the contracts of 25 nurses, i.e. technicians who were employed during the pandemic, will not be extended, even though, as he stated, they are proven professionals.
"All the employees in question in the period 2021-2022, during the Covid pandemic and the increased volume of work, were hired on a fixed-term basis precisely on that basis. As the end of the pandemic has been declared, there is no longer a legal basis to extend their contracts," said Jokić.
As he stated, according to the current Act on internal organization and systematization, there are not enough vacant positions for all employees who are signatories to those contracts.
"Given that, and following a fair policy as well as avoiding discrimination on any basis, we decided not to proceed with the transformation of part of those contracts," said Jokić.
According to him, we are talking about 25 technicians with secondary and higher medical school, whose contracts expire in the second half of August and the first half of September.
When asked if they have enough staff in that health facility, and if they plan to announce a new competition, Jokić replied that the Health Center of the Capital City is a large system and that, in some services, there is a lack of quality, rejuvenated medical staff.
"As I have already emphasized, with the Act on Internal Organization and Systematization we have vacancies in some services, but, unfortunately, not for all these proven professionals whose contracts are expiring. Of course, there will be competitions, but also in services that require hard field work, which some healthcare workers avoid," said Jokić.
Asked whether nurses and technicians who lose their jobs will have an advantage in those competitions, he said that it is in the interest of the Health Center.
"So the employees whose contracts are not extended, and the vast majority of them have proven themselves as professionals and have shown their dedication and responsibility, will have the advantage of being part of the collective of the Health Center, in a manner regulated by law," added Jokić.
In the Independent Healthcare Union, they believe that the healthcare system needs to be regulated in order for it to function, and that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that this is possible.
"And now, instead of talking about the promised 17 percent salary increase for nurses and technicians, we are afraid because the World Health Organization has officially canceled the pandemic. "We shouldn't have prayed for the pandemic to last in order to feed our families," said Babović.
When asked if it is humane that those who gave their best in the most difficult period for Montenegrin healthcare should be treated in such a way, Babović said that it is a defeat of the healthcare system.
"People who were ready to sacrifice themselves in the mission of saving others, are now thinking about their existence and the existence of their families, which represents our defeat. If the systematizations do not recognize these people, we must recognize them, because they were with us and remained ready to make sacrifices," Babović pointed out.
Asked if any of the nurses and technicians whose employment relationship is ending turned to the Union for help, he said that they had not.
"But now I am addressing them, so that they have me and SSZCG. It no longer matters who is the president of any system, now we have to show determination, solidarity, and that trade unionism is alive in Montenegro," said Babović.
He said that he would inform the European Association of Trade Unions (EPSU), of which SSZCG is a member, about all these developments.
Babović reminded that EPSU, during the pandemic, launched a campaign under the slogan "Applause is not enough".
"If you remember, they applauded the health workers in our country then, but what are they doing now," added Babović.
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