Estonian healthcare unions to turn to national conciliator — ERR News

In Estonia, healthcare workers’ unions will turn to the national conciliator after collective agreement negotiations ended without result. The parties did not agree on raising healthcare workers’ minimum wages over the next two years, ERR News reports.

Who supported the appeal

The appeal was signed by the Nurses’ Union, the Healthcare Workers’ Union, the Doctors’ Union, the Union of Clinical Psychologists and Clinical Speech Therapists, and the Physiotherapists’ Union. They sought to ensure that the minimum pay of healthcare workers rises faster than Estonia’s average over the next two years.

The unions link the failure of the negotiations to a decision by Minister of Social Affairs Carmen Joller and the Health Insurance Fund: funds needed to raise healthcare workers’ minimum wages in 2027 are planned to be used to balance the Health Insurance Fund’s budget.

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Union statements on pay

Kätlin Lillemäe, president of the Nurses’ Union, said that nurses are dissatisfied with the level of pay. According to her, the average salary is often achieved through numerous overtime hours and work at night, on weekends and holidays. Due to the shortage of nurses, many of them also work multiple jobs.

The base salary of care workers is more than one-third lower than the national average and approaches it only thanks to night shifts and overtime work, the unions said. They also drew attention to shortages of doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals.

In the appeal, the unions said that Carmen Joller’s presence at the negotiations was necessary because she is the minister of social affairs and chair of the supervisory board of the Health Insurance Fund. The Health Insurance Fund’s financial forecast for next year does not provide additional funds for raising healthcare workers’ salaries.