İZMİR – Mahmut Faruk Doğan, General President of Sağlık-Sen (Health-Sen), a prominent union advocating for the rights of health and social services employees, along with Vice President Mustafa Irgatoğlu, visited İzmir for a series of engagements. General President Doğan emphasized the need for "increased night shift pay" and stated that the union would approach the 8th Term Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations with scientific data gathered from the field.
The visits, which took place on Saturday, May 31, 2025, included meetings with İzmir Branch administrations, where General President Doğan and Vice President Irgatoğlu addressed questions from organization members and provided updates on the union's ongoing initiatives.
Doğan: "We Will Bring Field Realities to the Collective Bargaining Table"
Outlining the activities within the framework of the 8th Term Collective Bargaining Action Plan, General President Doğan stated their aim to highlight the efforts and contributions of health and social service professionals. Doğan said, "We are collecting the problems and demands of our health and social service professionals. We will bring the demands, formulated with the realities from the field, to the bargaining table."
Doğan further noted that they would scientifically demonstrate the difficulties of night work, emphasizing that they are examining studies on the adverse effects of night shifts on personnel health. He stated, "Night shift pay should be increased. There should be a difference between personnel working during the day and those working at night. We are examining studies on the effects of night shifts on personnel health, and we will come to the collective bargaining table with this data."
"We Strive to Be Always by Our Members' Side"
Providing information on "Social Unionism" activities, General President Doğan remarked, "We carry out our services with the understanding of 'what comes from the member, goes to the member.' Through our projects, we aim to support our members and solve their problems. We receive very positive feedback from our members regarding our services. We will continue our projects."
Irgatoğlu: "We Are Working on Professional Definitions"
General Vice President Mustafa Irgatoğlu provided updates on regulations concerning family health workers and the importance of professional definitions. Irgatoğlu stated, "We are identifying and finalizing our work on issues related to the professional definitions of health and social service employees. It is possible to solve the problems of health and social service professionals by addressing shortcomings in vocational laws."
Sağlık-Sen Delegation Conducts Extensive Meetings in İzmir
During their İzmir visit, General President Mahmut Faruk Doğan and General Vice President Mustafa Irgatoğlu were accompanied by İzmir Branch 1 President Gençer Yılmaz, İzmir Branch 2 President Ekrem Özdemir, İzmir Branch 3 President Özgür Karagöz, and their respective branch administrations.
The delegation first visited Dr. M. Burak Öztop, the İzmir Provincial Health Director, conveying the general problems and demands of healthcare professionals working in İzmir.
Subsequently, the delegation visited Prof. Dr. Bayram Yılmaz, Rector of İzmir Dokuz Eylül University, along with Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Hamdi Şükrü Kılıç and Secretary-General Prof. Dr. Dündar Yener. Discussions focused on the physical and economic conditions of health professionals working in university hospitals.
Meeting with Prof. Dr. Bülent Çalık, Chief Physician of İzmir Atatürk Training and Research Hospital, the delegation conveyed the problems of healthcare professionals at the hospital and also met with hospital staff to listen to their demands.
The delegation also visited Prof. Dr. Savaş Yakan, Chief Physician of İzmir Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, to convey specific issues and demands related to that hospital. They toured the hospital wards, visited healthcare workers, listened to their demands, and provided information about their ongoing work.
Furthermore, the delegation met with Bilal Saygılı, İzmir Provincial Chairman of the AK Party, to exchange views on the issues faced by health and social service professionals in the city.
Finally, the Sağlık-Sen delegation visited Melih Keleş, İzmir Provincial Director of Family and Social Policies, sharing information gathered from the field prior to the Collective Bargaining Agreement and evaluating the demands of social service employees.
These comprehensive visits underscore Sağlık-Sen's determination to robustly bring demands from the field to the negotiating table before the 8th Term Collective Bargaining Agreement, and to improve the living and working conditions of health and social service employees.