As of yesterday at 4 p.m., 4,400 employees in the Health Care Association have begun a blockade at Sahlgrenska. The blockade means a stop to overtime and new hires, as a protest against the large amount of overtime for the professional groups that the Vårdförbundet organizes.
Malou Byström works her shift as an emergency nurse at Sahlgrenska today, but not a minute of overtime.
– The atmosphere is hopeful, but there is also concern about whether the employer will be able to meet our wishes, she says.
Do you think they will be able to meet your wishes?
– I really hope so, because now that will be enough. It happens almost every shift that someone has to stay and work overtime. What happens is that people start taking sick leave because they don’t fit. They are young healthy people who do not hold down a regular job, it cannot be that way.
Photo: Jenny Ingemarsson
How does the blockade affect the emergency department?
– It will not affect the patients, not in terms of safety in any case. It will affect us who work by getting more power. If the blockade threatens safety, our managers will order us in for protective work, and then it will be negotiated with the union.
Ellen Ekholm is a union representative and board member in the Västra Götaland department.
– Today it’s about going home when the working day at one’s workplace is over. If there is a risk to life and health, the employer has every right to order protective work. We want to demonstrate that healthcare is built on resources that do not exist, she says.
Photo: Jenny Ingemarsson
What do you think will be the consequences of the blockade?
– The employer has now had two weeks to prepare. We take responsibility for our identification, we have responsibility for the patient in front of us. But ensuring that the population in Swedish healthcare receives care is the responsibility of politics.
What do you want to see from the employer’s side?
– We look after the Swedish healthcare system. We want to see that employees in Swedish health care are able to work a whole working life, we need other working time models that make us able to work.
Ellen Ekholm says that in order to solve the situation with overtime, above all, more personnel are needed in care.
Is it even possible for the employer to be able to meet your demands for reduced working hours?
– Of course, we cannot continue to pay with our health.
The blockade is not time-bound, but will last until an agreement is reached with the counterparty, SKR.
According to Sahlgrenska’s hospital management, they are changing – the ambition is that patients should not notice the blockade at all, in the short term.
– As an employer, we must review our scheduling and prioritize having employees on site where we would otherwise find it difficult to maintain the care we are supposed to provide, said Mattias Bjarnegård, SU management’s coordinator for the blockade to DN yesterday.
