MADRID, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Health service unions on Thursday announced two days of strike involving all workers in the public health service in the region of Madrid in support for their demands for the application of a 37.5 hour week, an increase in staff numbers and the introduction of permanent contracts for workers.
Unions were also angry at what they describe as the "freezing of professional development" and explained that around a third of the workers in the Madrid Health Service are on temporary contracts, with around 8,000 jobs lost since the start of the economic crisis in 2008.
They also announced an indefinite strike at private health centers in the capital, including those in the public domain which are under private management starting on November 27.
Meanwhile,November 20 will see the start of a series of 10 minute stoppages in protest at what unions describe as the "mistreatment" of the Madrid Health Service and its 64,000 workers by the Regional Government of Cristiana Cifuentes.
"Cifuentes has the final responsibility," commented the unions, adding that the strikes will probably be held on December 13 and 14.
