Canary Islands Medical Union Rejects Government Offer Amid Ongoing Strike

The conflict between CESM Canarias and the Canary Islands government has escalated after the medical union rejected the latest proposal from regional authorities. CESM Canarias is demanding that President Fernando Clavijo personally intervene, arguing that the current approach fails to address the core issues behind the ongoing doctors' strike. The union describes the government's response as an example of 'institutional cynicism' and claims it does not reflect the realities faced by medical professionals.

At the heart of the dispute is the government's plan to eliminate 24-hour shifts while simultaneously introducing incentives that reward doctors for taking on additional shifts. CESM Canarias has criticized this as contradictory, pointing out that the new system would pay higher rates for doctors who work more than five 24-hour shifts per month. According to the union, this undermines their central demand: that no doctor should be required to perform more than five such shifts monthly. Instead of improving working conditions, the union argues, the proposal encourages excessive workloads under already difficult circumstances.

After months of strikes, negotiations, and proposals, CESM Canarias says the response from the Canary Islands Health Service (SCS) arrived only as a brief email. The union claims this document ignored all of their detailed proposals, which included specific figures, deadlines, and implementation mechanisms. These proposals covered issues such as post-shift rest periods, regulation of on-call duties, night work, functional plans, and patient-to-doctor ratios. CESM Canarias reports that none of these points received a substantive reply from the SCS.

The union is particularly critical of what it sees as omissions in the government's offer. CESM Canarias argues that the negotiation process has become a 'pointless charade' and that the SCS proposal is far removed from the measures the union has advocated since the start of the dispute. Notably, the union says there is no commitment to improving rest periods after 24-hour shifts, despite having submitted a detailed plan for phasing out such extended workdays and ensuring adequate recovery time for doctors. The union also highlights the lack of any reference to the regulation of on-call doctors, who are often required to be available at all hours and perform complex interventions without proper compensation or legal protections.

CESM Canarias interprets the government's stance as evidence that the concerns of doctors and patients are not being taken seriously. The union describes the offer as minimal and says it ignores nearly all the demands that led to the current mobilization. As a result, CESM Canarias has formally rejected the proposal and insists that President Clavijo must now take direct responsibility for resolving the crisis. The union recalls that during the 2023 doctors' strike, Clavijo, then opposition leader, publicly promised to meet with medical representatives to seek solutions.

This standoff in the Canary Islands reflects broader tensions in Spain over healthcare working conditions and government responses to labor disputes. In other regions, authorities have also faced criticism for failing to address the needs of vulnerable groups, as seen when Catalonia allocated significant funds to identify families missing out on social aid—a move detailed in a recent report on efforts to expand welfare coverage in Catalonia. The ongoing situation in the Canary Islands underscores the challenges regional governments face in balancing fiscal constraints with the demands of essential public sector workers. According to available data, Spain's healthcare system has experienced repeated labor disputes in recent years, often centered on pay, workload, and staffing ratios. The outcome of the current negotiations could set a precedent for similar conflicts across the country.