Strike by X-ray and scanning technicians to disrupt public hospitals

Some 1,000 technicians in the government, Clalit, municipal and voluntary hospitals will stop working.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Updated: AUGUST 6, 2015 01:18
Shaare Zedek Hospital (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Shaare Zedek Hospital
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Technicians at X-ray and imaging centers in all the public hospitals will on Thursday launch a strike approved by the Histadrut labor federation to protest against employment conditions and wages. The workers’ unions argue that they work under difficult and stressful conditions because of a manpower shortage and that they are exposed to dangerous radiation while working.
The open-ended strike is expected to cause significant disruptions in the hospitals.
Some 1,000 technicians in the government, Clalit, municipal and voluntary hospitals will stop working, and imaging and X-ray students in schools will also not attend classes. Only neonatal, premature baby, obstetrics, intensive care, and emergency patients will be able to undergo scanning and x-rays.
The Union of Scanners and X-ray Technicians first declared a work dispute in July 2014. Nothing has happened to improve the situation since then, despite discussions in recent months among the union, the Treasury, and the employers.
When the talks reached a deadlock, the strike was declared.
Union head Menahem Ashkenazi said that union members work “insane hours and in a way that endangers their health. It must stop. They must get a fair, basic salary so they can make an honorable living and be able to provide the professional service that the patients deserve. At the same time, there must be enough manpower slots that do not exist today.”