The Union of Pre-Hospital Emergency Technicians (STEPH) clarified on Wednesday that INEM failed to designate who should fulfill the minimum services, which the notice proposed only for the night shift.
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The president of STEPH said:
The law says that they have to be designated, they have to be identified. Since [the INEM email] was sent at 15:57, three minutes before the 16:00 shift, it was no longer effective for the morning shift. Strictly speaking, not even for the afternoon shift, because someone who lives on the south bank and receives an email three minutes before the start of the shift, how can they comply?
Union Responsibility and INEM’s Failure to Assign Workers
Rui Lázaro also explained that the National Federation of Independent Unions of Public Administration and Entities with Public Purposes (Fesinap), which declared the strike on November 4, does not have a collective labor agreement.
He added that the minimum services that prevail are those specified in the notice period, which was [the equivalent of] the night shift during the vacation period.
According to the pre-notice, the minimum services proposal was for a number of workers equal to that which guarantees operation on Sundays, during the night shift, in the normal holiday period.
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Since the strike notice proposed the equivalent of a night shift during the holiday period. He added, that if INEM did not agree, it should have communicated this to the Directorate-General for Public Administration and Employment, so that the parties could reach an understanding and the arbitration council could define the minimum services, which did not happen.
Assigning Workers for Minimum Services
According to his explanation, the responsibility for defining the workers who must comply with the minimum services, by law, lies with the union up to 24 hours before the strike. If the union fails to do so, the employer must designate the workers, which also did not happen.
He said that:
They can even create a list of workers who must comply with minimum services and send a general email, and they can even call people who are off work.
What happened was that INEM only sent an email during the strike, three minutes before the shift started, and did not assign the workers, he stated.
Rui Lázaro also said that it should have been the middle management, upon learning of the strike, who designated the workers.
Health Minister Responds and Initiates Investigation
The Health Minister said in parliament on Tuesday that she expected the General Health Inspectorate to conduct an in-depth assessment of whether minimum services were met during the INEM strike and assured that they had done everything possible.
When asked about whether or not the minimum services were decreed and fulfilled, Ana Paula Martins said the deputies:
The information we have is that everything that could and should have been done was done.
The minister also said that at least one of the eight-hour shifts did not meet the minimum services due to a lack of human resources.
Impact of Strikes on Emergency Services
On November 4, two strikes coincided, worsening delays in answering calls at CODU: the civil service strike declared by Fesinap and the overtime strike declared by STEPH.
Authorities allegedly link these service failures to the deaths of 11 people. As a result, the Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened seven investigations, one of which has already been closed.
Additionally, the General Inspectorate of Health Activities (IGAS) is conducting an ongoing investigation.
