Doctors appear likely to call off threatened strike
Local authorities take over responsibility for fight against corona in public sphere
By MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMANA patient is comforted by a doctor in hospital. (photo credit: NATI SHOHAT/FLASH90)
Less than a day after 28,000 Israel Medical Association doctors threatened to strike over a labor dispute, a solution to the crisis appears to be emerging.Sources close to the association said it is likely the threat to strike will be rescinded.The association and the Finance Ministry agreed Monday that doctors who contract coronavirus on the job or are forced into isolation from coming into contact with a sick patient, will continue to receive pay while they are in isolation. Moreover, they will not be forced to use their sick days during that time.“The doctors and medical staff are at the forefront of the war against coronavirus,” said Finance Minister Israel Katz in a statement. “It is our duty to take care of them and provide them with the conditions necessary to carry out their mission and enable them to do life-saving work.”Health Minister Yuli Edelstein addressed the dispute during his talk at the Coronavirus Crisis Local Leadership Conference on Monday, calling the doctors’ demands “justified.”He said, “I would like to remind everyone that the people who are leading the struggle against the coronavirus are the doctors, nurses and medical staff.”Later, Edelstein held a discussion with Katz and the union and made clear that no doctors will be eliminated at this time.On Sunday night, the doctors announced a labor dispute due to lack of standards and the unusual workload in hospitals and public clinics in Israel. They said that if no solution was found within two weeks they could strike.The association also pushed back against a decision by the Finance Ministry to require hospitals to pay part of the funds for additional medical personnel that is needed during the coronavirus crisis.Association chairman Prof. Zion Hagay even accused finance officials of “engaging in a war of control, ego and tricks.”Recall, already last month, the country’s nurses went on strike until the Health and Finance ministries agreed to provide the health system with the personnel it was requesting – some 2,000 new nurses, 400 doctors and 700 administrative assistants and support staff. Many of those employees are already being recruited and funded.
