<strong>Is the strike still a right?</strong> The case of the Portuguese nurses' surgical strike

Abstract

In democracy, a strike is an unquestionable constitutional right. However, the wave of Portuguese nurses’ strikes in recent months, especially the strike to the surgeries – the ‘surgical strike’ – has questioned the right to strike. I analyse this conflict in four aspects: the political and economic context of strikes; the problems and demands of nurses; some unusual elements in this strike; results and dilemmas. Political and economic context of strikes Between 2011 and 2015, Portugal was ruled by a coalition of right-wing parties (PSD/Social Democrats and CDS-PP/Christian Democrats). During this period – which coincided with the financial intervention of the troika (European Central Bank, European Commission and International Monetary Fund) – there was severe austerity, which affected working conditions and people’s lives in general. Labour conflicts were intense, especially in the public sector. Thus, the following ‘thesis’ seems to be valid: under economic crises, the rate of strikes increases because workers react energetically to the withdrawal of rights. In October 2015 a new political cycle began, still in force, under the leadership of a minority socialist government, supported by a parliamentary agreement with two leftmost parties (communists/PCP and Left Bloc/BE). Since then several social and labour rights have been recovered: reversal of the privatisation of strategic corporations; restitution of wages, pensions, holiday and Christmas subsidies; minimum wage raise; reinstitution of some national holidays; reinstatement of the 35 hour work week; etc. However, especially in the second half of the current political cycle, there has been an intensification of social conflict, despite the improvement of the country’s economic indicators (unemployment rate of 6.7 percent in January 2019, compared to 17 percent at the time of the troika). During 2018, there were multiple strikes in both public and private sectors, including nurses, doctors, teachers, court officials, judges, prison guards, dockworkers and fire fighters. In the public sector, there have already been more strikes and notice of sectoral strikes (in particular in the health sector) in the current socialist government than in the rightwing government of the previous political cycle1. The ‘thesis’ of the positive correlation between economic crisis and labour conflict has thus been called into question. In other words, in a more favourable economic context, the strikes have increased in part because the government has created in many sectors of society (unsuccessful) expectations of problem solving. Problems and demands According to the Portuguese Nurses’ Order, on 31 December 2018, there were 73,912 nurses in Portugal, the vast majority responsible for ‘general care’ (55,273), while the rest are ‘specialist nurses’ in rehabilitation, maternal and obstetric health, community nursing, child and paediatric health, mental and psychiatric health. Of the total, 60,000 nurses are women2. The strike to the surgeries had two periods: between 22 November and 31 December 2018; and between 31 January and 28 February 2019. This strike drew attention to the situation of Portuguese nurses: they are among the lowest paid in the OECD (on average, nurses in public hospitals earn 1.285€ gross monthly)3; it is estimated that 600 extra nurses are needed as a way to compensate for the shift from the 40 hour work week (from the troika period) to a 35 hour week; nurses are subject to overtime but are being used to fulfil permanent service needs; there is a lack of equipment in hospitals, and so on. Two unions (created in 2017) called for a strike in 10 public hospitals: the Sindicato Democrático dos Enfermeiros Portugueses (Sindepor) and the Associação Sindical Portuguesa dos Enfermeiros (ASPE). Each has an estimated membership of approx. 2000. The main claims associated with this strike – transversal to the entire National Health Service (NHS) and shared by other unions – were: ■ remuneration on an equal footing with pharmacists, psychologists and nutritionists, although nurses have to be prepared to perform their duties in a wide variety of settings (surgical blocks, intensive care units, palliative care or haemodialysis, emergency service, heli-transport, Health Line 24, etc.) ■ differentiated remuneration according to length of service, since nurses with 30 or more years of experience, with post-graduate training, earn the same (1.285€ gross monthly, that is, 980€ net) as colleagues new to the profession...