Andalusian doctors cancel November strike after talks advance

The Andalusian doctors’ union SMA called off its planned general strike on Tuesday, 3 November, after consulting members and recording progress in talks with the regional government. The stoppages had been due to run from 13 November to 4 December across Andalusia.

The union said the decision favoured dialogue but did not abandon any of its demands. It plans to keep pursuing them at both regional and national level and to publish the outcome of the working groups monitoring the negotiations.

Progress without a timetable

The dispute centres on how to put into practice an agreement signed on 29 July. SMA said that document did not cover everything it wanted, but created a direct negotiating channel with the Junta de Andalucía and provided a basis for improvements to doctors’ working conditions.

Recent meetings with the regional health department and the Andalusian Health Service have produced advances towards applying the agreement in 2027, according to the union. It highlighted voluntary hospital continuity-of-care duties when they are not linked to on-call work, and equal extra payments for doctors in primary and hospital care.

Those measures are connected with the July framework, while SMA presented them as important elements of the administration’s current proposal. The wider package also envisages a gradual extension of reduced working hours for personal reasons to 50% and ending financial losses for female doctors during pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding.

The union nevertheless says key questions remain unresolved. It has accused the Junta of refusing to set implementation deadlines or identify the budget allocations needed, and says it has not obtained a commitment to include any of the improvements in the 2027 regional budget.

Junta says dialogue remained open

The Junta had described the strike call as senseless and said discussions with SMA were continuing. Health department sources also questioned why a stoppage was announced during the pre-election period, two months after an agreement intended to remain in force for four years.

SMA announced the industrial action on 15 October after what it described as months of unsuccessful attempts to avoid a conflict. The first phase was to consist of uninterrupted 24-hour stoppages for three weeks. More than 5,700 doctors in Málaga province alone had been called to take part.

The union says the regional government has formally committed to the measures but has been slow to turn them into deadlines and funded action. It will now continue through the follow-up groups rather than the November stoppages, while maintaining that its broader claims remain active.

Sources: Diario Sur, El Español and Diario de Cádiz.