The union of personal assistants, which is preparing a strike on Thursday, warns of the deteriorating working conditions of personal assistants. Inadequate funding, they believe, is closely intertwined with the disorganization of long-term care.
“We are announcing the strike with the aim of protecting and improving the rights or dignity of personal assistants and other workers in the personal assistance business,” announced the strike, which will take place on May 25, from the union. As they warn, many employers use the excuse of increasingly insufficient public funding of personal assistance to reduce employee entitlements – leave you decreases, and supplements are discontinued. In addition, the authorities in the country “They are cutting funds under the pretext of unsustainable costs.”
Like it is a representative of the trade union warned at the press conference Nenad H. Vitorović you it is such behavior already started under the previous government with an amendment to the rules on personal assistance, which it is deregulated worker entitlements, and the current government continues this practice. “Price per hour of service which it is funding unit and from which you finance salaries, holidays, expenses, hospital etc., it is absolutely too low,” it is said. Currently it is the price is set at 15 euros in order to be able to guarantee the scope and quality of services and the rights of assistants at a level before inflation and cost increases, but the price should be at least 16.64 euros, it is said Vitorovic.
Out of the estimated 500 beneficiaries it is the number grew to 4,000
Problems it is also to the extent of the beneficiaries for whom it is competent personal assistance. For the implementation of the Personal Assistance Act it is initially, 8 million euros were initially planned for around 500 beneficiaries. Because it is personal assistance also began to cover the needs that long-term care should, you this cost will be around 200 million euros this year. Like it is warned Vitorović, it is namely, 4,000 users entitled to personal assistance due to irregular long-term care.
“Personal assistance it is a victim of the fact that we do not have long-term care here. Public ‘secret’ it is namely, yes you the proponent of the law on personal assistance did not simply “count” in the projection of eight million euros, on the contrary it is according to the initial financial assessment, the law was expanded so that beneficiaries of personal assistance can also become those residents who would need a certain form of long-term care, but there was never sufficient political will to enact the latter.” warn in the trade union.
At the same time, the trade union is also critical of the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, accusing it of you it is Recently subordinate pressure from the Ministry of Finance. “Instead of improving the regulation of personal assistance, to raise the standard of personal assistance for users, to protect the labor rights of personal assistants, it is the leadership of the Ministry of Labor began to repeat the mantra of the treasurers and accountants from the Ministry of Finance. According to theirs it is personal assistance is too expensive and wasteful and too generous an activity, there are many irregularities, it is necessary it is to reduce rights and limit the number of beneficiaries, even curtailing the labor rights of personal assistants does not bother them,” the union announced.
As noted by the union, the current forecasts are not promising either. “The current coalition and government are postponing long-term care legislation into the future, warn. As they explain, that is why they are striking both against the regulator, the Ministry of Labour, and against the financier – the government and the Ministry of Finance.
Syndicate: Keep going you we will also advocate for the return of the public sector
The strike will take place on Thursday, May 25, from midnight to 10 p.m. As part of the strike, a protest rally will also be organized in front of the Ministry of Labor building at 11:05 a.m. At the same time, the trade union invites beneficiaries of personal assistance to you they participate in strikes in reversed roles – as companions of their assistants.
However, the trade union demands sufficient financing of the activity, the conclusion of a collective agreement for the activity of personal assistance, the adoption of standards and norms of the activity, ensuring the protection of the rights and position of personal assistants in the case of supervision over individual providers of personal assistance as alleged violators, the immediate cessation of pressure from the Ministry of Labor regarding the use applications personal assistance and finding a more suitable solution for recording hours and paying strikes.
At a meeting last week, according to Vitorović, the representatives of the ministry expressed their support for the two medium-term demands – the conclusion of a collective agreement and the provision of appropriate standards and norms – but there was no convergence of views between the two sides regarding the other demands.
“Go ahead you we will argue for one of the more radical ones corrections – returning personal assistance to where it belongs – this it is into the public sector,” it is a union representative announced at the press conference. Convinced it isYes it is arrangement such “because those responsible do not want to be responsible and shift the responsibility to the contractors, who are the private sector”. At this it is warned that you it only exercises financial control over private contractors about what for you spends money, but there is no content control.
Source: Rtvslo
