The regional strike called by SIM, which began at 00:00 today and ends at 24:00 on Wednesday, involves “the total stoppage and absence from the workplace” of doctors working in health establishments in the Region Autonomous Region of the Azores, in the area of the Alentejo Regional Health Administration and in the area of the Algarve Regional Health Administration.

The Independent Union of Doctors said in the strike notice, published 10 days ago, that the “struggle of medical workers aims to make the Government give an effective response to the union’s list of demands”.

The doctors also demand “the urgent closure of the activity of the negotiating table set up between the Government and SIM, and that, specifically and as a priority, a proposal for a Salary Grid be presented by the Ministers of Finance and Health that would replace the losses accumulated by force of the inflationary erosion of the last decade and that positions the entire medical profession, including interns, with honor and justice in the Single Remuneration Table for public service”.

During August and September, the Independent Doctors' Union has scheduled strikes in other regions of the country.