Health Minister Rajko Ostojic said on Friday that he was prepared to renew social dialogue and negotiations with all three representative unions in the health sector.
Ostojic responded to a call by the president of the doctors' union Ivica Babic during an action in front of hospitals around the country as part of the strike that started on Wednesday, for Ostojic to sit down with unionists at the negotiating table over the weekend. Ostojic added that he was prepared to do so provided that all three representative unions in the health sector attended the talks.
The pre-condition to negotiations is social dialogue, Ostojic said, adding that one of the three representative unions had requested that negotiations be reconvened as soon as possible.
"If there is any will amongst union leaders, let's sit down and solve this episode which has been going on for two and a half months", he said.
Asked if strikers would be paid for the time on strike, Ostojic said that this was a matter for employers to handle, in this case, hospital management and the government and that the media would be duly informed of that decision.
During an action dubbed "5 to 12" striking doctors and nurses stood outside hospitals around the country and union leader Ivica Babic said that the intention of the action was to show how many medical staff were actually striking and challenge the numbers supplied by the Ministry.
