Turkey’s health care workers go on strike
Left out of a bill that gave doctors a raise, Turkey’s nurses and other health care workers are going on strike as Turkey reports 20,000 daily cases of COVID-19.
IZMIR, Turkey — Turkish health care workers in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir, enraged that a Dec. 1 bill raising doctors' pay ignored them, have thrown copies of their diplomas in the trash to protest what they call insufficient and discriminatory legislation.
Nurses, medical attendants, lab assistants and other health care personnel will strike throughout Turkey to protest both poor pay and harsh working conditions. Turkey logs about 20,000 new COVID-19 cases and 180 deaths daily but so far no cases of the omicron variant of COVID-19, according to Health Minister Fahrettin Koca. However, Alper Sener, a member of the country’s advisory COVID-19 board, said it was highly likely that the variant will soon be seen in Turkey.
