What's next?

Let's say he negotiated. He participated in meetings where the topic of the law on mimimum wages came up: employer representatives and experts pointed out how much of a burden it was on medical entities and the health care system, the unions responded that there was no question of any changes that would deplete the employees' state of possession. Possession status, or, as the nurses wrote in a letter to Szafranowicz, vested rights. The union recalled a painful issue from a decade ago - the wage freeze in the budget sector became one of the reasons for the PO's election defeat in 2015. It can be added that, image-wise, PO also lost out on the nurses' protests of that year, during which the young presidential candidate, Andrzej Duda, instead sought support (successfully). Those were the times, now there are no times....

Although in principle - they are, in addition, extremely difficult. The gap in the finances of the health care system is growing. The shortfall of several tens of billions of zlotys, forty, maybe even fifty, cannot be hidden or covered up with bailout subsidies dripping from the state budget. Provided, of course, that there will be such, because public finances, after all, also have their problems. There are no illusions, "something" will have to be done with the minimum wage law. Just what? And perhaps most importantly - how?

The Ministry of Health wasted - there is no shadow of a doubt here - most of its time (the hackneyed "time is money" seems very appropriate here) on completely unproductive talks, the outcome of which was known from the start, certainly with the way the matter was handled as we have witnessed: the unions are saying a firm "no" to unfavorable changes for employees. Did anyone really think that they could sign on to a solution that would make health care workers count on an indexation of 4% per year instead of a sizable annual increase (10-12%)? If this was actually assumed, it would be a manifestation of not so much optimism, but rather - naiveté. This one, in turn, is certainly not an asset in the case of policymakers.

Now time is running out, and increasingly so is money. Minister Jolanta Soberanska-Grenda is up against the wall and must - urgently - decide on a reset not only of the talks, but even of the strategy on the implementation of the Raise Law, on salaries and health care personnel. It would be good if she presented a plan as soon as possible (after all, it will be a month since her appointment this week!), perhaps even with options: what to do next. After all, it is not only the media that are waiting for this, but all those who make up the health care system and those for whom it works.