Appeal of the Union of Freelance Workers of the General Hospital of Nikšić: The State Pays Attention to Us

AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS
The Union of Freelance Workers of the General Hospital of Nikšić was recently founded and today's gathering in front of the institution presented their work, but also the problems they face. The president of the organization, which has yet to gain representativeness, David Delić, said that the salaries of mid-level medical, senior medical and non-medical staff are low. The goal of the gathering, said Delić, is to appeal to the authorities, primarily Prime Minister Milojko Spajić and Minister Dr. Vojislav Šimun, to pay attention to these staff.
"Perhaps for the first time, or perhaps for decades, such an appeal has not been made to the public, the ministry, the prime minister, and the entire society that mid-level medical staff, senior medical staff, and part of the non-medical staff in the entire healthcare system of Montenegro are in a very unfavorable position. Our colleagues are leaving with minimal pensions, and they leave their entire lives here, on call, working night shifts. Our health is exposed to both mental and physical risks every day. I think that society has unfairly relegated medical staff to the back pages, that they have not paid enough attention to us. And why haven't they - maybe because we have not drawn attention to ourselves. Maybe because a few months ago we had to organize the Union of Freelance Workers of the Nikšić Hospital, which is still not representative at the state level, but which has the will and desire to fight for workers, not to be an extended arm of the government, not to be an extended arm of the state, regardless of which government is in office, but to fight for the rights of workers," said Delić.
The rights of medical workers, Delić pointed out, and secondary medical staff have been left in the background.
"There would be a lot to talk about, a lot of things that we lack and that are not good for us, but for a start, this latest salary calculation was the last straw. I am not an economist, but as far as I have been informed in our accounting department, it is unacceptable that this part of our pension contributions has been taken away from us. We wonder what we will receive tomorrow in our pension, which is already minimal. We wonder how we will buy apartments and provide a roof over our families' heads if our salary is 600 euros, and the square footage of an apartment in Nikšić is 1,300 euros. I ask Prime Minister Spajić, Minister Šimun whether we can function with that salary, whether the diploma of a medical technician and a nurse can be equalized, or senior nurses who assist in the most complicated operations and other medical-technical operations, without which doctors cannot treat patients, whether such diplomas can be equalized with some secondary diplomas that do, I would not underestimate anyone, but less complex jobs. I think it is unfair and unacceptable that our salary and our income are now equalized to 600 euros," Delić asked.
He explained that there are many shortcomings in the level of salaries, even among senior medical staff. He also explained that there are many illogicalities in the calculation of night and overtime work.
"There are many things to which we should draw attention and to which someone must finally pay attention. I call on all medical professionals in Montenegro, all employed workers in the health care system of Montenegro, to finally start fighting for ourselves. If our representative unions have been making promises for years and have not delivered, we must ask ourselves what kind of unions they are, what kind of representatives they are, and whether these representatives work for the interests of workers. If they are not working, we should look for those who do," Delić emphasized.
As he said, he believes that there is no health institution in the world where something cannot be improved in a positive sense.
"It can be done in our institution as well. When the public starts to comment that healthcare workers are not great, that this is lacking, that there are purchased diplomas, I call on the system and the authorities of Montenegro to separate quality workers from low-quality ones. We are not against it, it is even harmful to us. So it is up to the authorities to implement everything, to respect the law, to respect ethics, professionalism, because only in this way can we satisfy and treat patients properly and contribute to the health of our community", said Delić.
The union of freelance workers of the General Hospital Nikšić, he said, has more and more members every day.
"At the state level, we will consider which union we will join. It will be the one that truly fights for workers' rights", said Delić.
At today's gathering in front of the General Hospital Nikšić, they were supported by colleagues from the Nikšić Health Center and the "dr Jovan Bulajić" Special Hospital Brezovik.
Delić says that according to unofficial data, there are about 400 medical, highly medical and non-medical staff in Nikšić.