Nurses and Physiotherapists Protest in Alicante Against Pay Cuts

Up to €11,000 has been lost by nursing and physiotherapy professionals since pay cuts to their bonuses were implemented 15 years ago. This situation has led the Satse Nursing Union to call for a day of protests this Thursday, urging the Government to end this policy of 'mutilated' bonuses. In Alicante, the protest will take place from 11 am in front of the General Hospital Dr. Balmis.

This action comes after these professionals have once again seen a 27% cut in their June bonus. According to Satse, this marks the 30th affected bonus, resulting in a loss of €321 for those with a three-year tenure, and over €366 for those with 15 years of service. Annually, this amounts to a loss of around €700.

During the protest, there will be a demand for the Government to include the full restoration of bonus payments for all public health professionals in the upcoming General State Budget Law.

The Union claims that the Government reduced public sector workers' bonuses in June 2010 as an extraordinary measure due to the country's economic crisis, with a promise to reverse it once the economy improved.

"It has been 15 years since José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero approved this cut, yet none of the subsequent administrations, neither Mariano Rajoy's nor Pedro Sánchez's, have done anything to reverse it. Neither have the parliamentary groups that have continued to support this cut in successive Budget Laws," the union states.

With this cut, the Government is allegedly violating the Statutory Framework of health service staff and the Basic Statute of Public Employees, which stipulate that the base salary and seniority bonuses of extra payments should be equal to a monthly salary.

The Union estimates a 20% loss in purchasing power due to these cuts. "We lose money every month while the cost of living has continued to rise in recent years. Everything is more expensive, electricity, gas, housing, any consumer product..."