Public health workers in Canary Islands strike over health cuts

Around 25,000 workers in the public health sector in the Canary Islands are holding a 24-hour strike this Thursday in protest of spending cuts. The workers are protesting against cuts of 50 million euros in personnel costs which will be implemented in 2012. These cutbacks mean that the working week for a public health service worker in the Canary Islands will be increased by two and a half hours. Health service unions also calculate that the cuts will lead to the loss of around 2,000 jobs in a health service which has already suffered job losses over the previous two years. The regional government has imposed minimum services which means that services in emergencies, surgery and dialysis will not be affected. The Director of the Canary Island Health Service, Juana Maria Reyes has described the strike as "useless, given the serious situation that we are in," while Pilar Navarro, the National director of the Platform for Public Health, called for citizens to protest in the streets for a health service without cutbacks. The strike in the Canary Islands begins one day after the end of a 48-hour strike by doctors in the public health system in Catalonia. The Catalan doctors were also striking against cuts in their region's health service budget. Meanwhile secondary school teachers in Madrid are this Thursday holding their eighth day of strike action against cuts in the public education budget, while university and high-school students in Catalonia are also on strike in protest of spending cuts in the sector.