Hungarian government representatives held talks on Thursday with Hungary’s social and healthcare union MMSZ EDDSZ about the union's demands and the Government’s recent steps and current plans regarding the field.
Deputy Minister of State for Healthcare Attila Beneda said at a press conference following the talks that the Government had a string of wage increases aimed at the sector, and added that as a direct request of the EDDSZ union, forty additional schools will be awarded a license to train nurses, in order to relieve the current shortage.
He also said that the Government had recently introduced a scholarship program for specialists and that one of the compulsory advanced trainings for doctors and nurses is now free for the participants.
MMSZ EDDSZ President Ágnes Cser welcomed the change in political climate, noting that the current administration was more receptive to the union’s demands than the previous two Socialist-led governments. She welcomed the Government’s action to put all hospitals under direct ownership, as this way the wage increases also affected those who previously worked in institutions that were independent economic entities.
Ms. Cser said one of the union’s grievances was that the wage increases in healthcare did not extend to accounting and administrative staff, without which hospitals could grind to a halt. She also requested that workers in the social sphere with medical training also receive the wage increase given to other healthcare workers.
Recent wage increases notwithstanding, the union would also like to see guarantees for future pay rises being independent of any future political climate.
(Ministry of Human Resources)
