Doctors, Slovak government reach wage agreement ending emergency

Three days of negotiations, which saw more than a dozen Slovak hospitals work under an emergency regime, ended in an agreement between the cabinet and representatives of the Medical Trade Unions’ Association (LOZ), which promises an early return of over 1,200 doctors to their jobs. The protest action launched by the association two months ago was intended to enforce demands that included a halt to the transformation of state-run hospitals into joint-stock companies. In the last two weeks of the protest, the only issue blocking an agreement was salaries of the doctors in state-run hospitals. The agreement guarantees the doctors a salary increase.