The Slovak Health Care and Social Services Trade Union (SOZ) asked the
government to follow its own agenda at a rally in front of the Slovak Parliament building on November 27.
SOZ president Anton Szálay told a news conference that morning that the government agenda pledged to increase health insurance contributions paid by the state for its policyholders to five percent of the average monthly wage. However, it only did so for the first four months of this year, before returning the level to four percent.
The level is supposed to be 4.5 percent next year, but the union says that is unacceptable.
The salaries of health sector employees are growing slower than the average wage in the national economy, Szálay said. The last time when the salaries of health care workers exceeded the average monthly wage was in 1992.
According to the SOZ’s calculations, the basic wage that doctors were entitled to in the first three quarters of 2007 made up a mere 51 percent of their monthly income, while the rest came from bonuses, overtime work, compensation for emergency service, and wage compensations.
-SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
