Okypy staff to strike over unimplemented pay agreement

Staff at the state health services (Okypy) will be staging a 48-hour strike on November 10 and 11 to protest the non-implementation of provisions included in their collective agreement that ended in 2025 – such as pay rises – and the deadlock in negotiations to renew it. The trade unions called on Okypy to meet its obligations and reach an agreement by November 10 in order to avert the strike, otherwise measures may be escalated. In a joint statement on Monday, their trade unions SEK, PEO, Deok, Pasyno and Pasyki said the workers were dissatisfied over annual pay rises and personnel structure, with the later directly linked to understaffing and the subsequent care offered to patients. According to the unions, negotiations to renew the collective agreement for 2026-2027 had reached a deadlock due to Okypy’s insistence on how the salary scales would be implemented from 2028 onwards. The unions said they had submitted proposals and were ready to negotiate but would not commit to future arrangements while the previous ones had not been implemented. The workers, they said, were demanding the implementation of salary scales and structures that had already been agreed on, which they argued would enhance productivity, effectiveness and competitiveness. Already, the unions added, workers were leaving for employment in other state sectors. The collective agreement covers approximately 1,600 members of staff, including doctors, nurses, paramedics and technical, administrative and office employees. The strike, the unions said, was their last resort, and workers would cooperate with services in emergencies and other life-threatening incidents during the strike.