Lindén explained her change of mind by referring to the news that the ongoing nurse strike will be interrupted by Easter. He said he was prepared to make a motion after the holidays if the strike continues to threaten patient safety – even if the government disagrees.
Although he asserted that no political pressure influenced his decision, the decision was interpreted as political. prime minister Sanna Marin For example, (SDP) has expressed serious reservations about the proposal and said it would find it “very disgusting“to present it to the government.
Lindén also said that the decision to withdraw the proposal did not affect the opposition of the nurses’ associations and its possible consequences for resolving the labor dispute. Hopefully a solution to the labor dispute will be found, he added, before the strike extends to seven hospital districts.
About 25,000 nurses are currently on strike in six hospital districts across Finland: Central Finland, Helsinki and Uusimaa, Northern Ostrobothnia, Northern Savonia, Pirkanmaa and Southwest Finland.
If the strike expands as planned after Easter, it should be targeted in a way that does not affect vital functions for patients ’health and lives, Lindén appealed.
He said earlier that despite opposition from the government, his ministerial duties would oblige him to take the bill forward, given expert assessments that the strike would seriously undermine patient safety.
“If experts are unanimous in their view that patient safety has been compromised, in some respects seriously, I cannot comment that it has not been compromised,” he told YLE on Sunday.
The labor dispute is linked to demands from nurses’ unions to raise wages and take action to address labor shortages in the sector. If no solution is found, the strike will expand to cover a total of 13 hospital districts and 35,000 nurses on Wednesday, April 20th.
The industrial action has already spread to the municipal sector, when schools and kindergartens were closed in Kuopio and Tampere on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
Source: The Nordic Page