In a monthly letter to David Holmberg and his colleagues at the Academic Hospital in Uppsala, it was stated that the hospital needed to make savings.
Then David Holmberg came up with the proposal that the hospital should lower his salary, which is just under SEK 40,000, something that UNT was the first to report on.
David believes that he does not need the full salary and that the waiting time would otherwise be extended for the patients.
– For my part, I live my life my way, and I won’t change it even if I get more money. So it was probably such a message, says David Holmberg to TV4 Nyheterna.
Hospital management: No to reduced salary
David posted his request on the hospital’s internal forum after his immediate supervisor said he cannot control it. After receiving no response, he also wrote a debate article in the Uppsala newspaper UNT.
– There I wrote that we must dare to give and welcome expressions of solidarity in society, says David Holmberg.
The answer from the hospital management refers to the collective agreement and that the wage setting must be factual and not based on any subjectivity or opinion.
“The objectivity is lost if aspects other than those stipulated in the salary agreement affect the salary setting, for example if the manager takes into account the respective employee’s subsistence needs/accommodation costs,” writes Sofia Birk, HR director at Region Uppsala, to TV4 Nyheterna.
David: Need help
David himself objects to the fact that it is not allowed to choose for yourself whether you want to lower your own salary and believes that it is about personal freedom. But he does not think it should be used for direct competitive purposes because it could drive wages down.
– If it comes from the employer’s initiative, it could be a danger, where the union plays an important role in ensuring that the employee does not lose any rights, says David Holmberg and continues:
– It is not good if there is a negative impact on the salaries of one’s colleagues, and it is clear that a lower salary leads to a lower pension as well. But I also think that we must dare to think collectively and that we must help each other.
Mixed reactions
It was in November last year that the hospital announced a deficit of billions and that, among other things, they need to save on the large proportion of hired staff.
Since then, the care association has launched a campaign to get temporary staff to become permanent staff.
– Indirectly, it is probably the case that they are lowering wages by dismissing temporary staff and asking them to be employed in other forms, i.e. to become permanent employees instead. The general thing is that temporary nurses earn significantly more than permanently employed nurses, says David Holmberg, who himself is permanently employed.
He himself wants to raise the issue of how collective agreements are written. He has received criticism for being “anti-union” after the debate article was spread on social media, but says that is not his intention.
– Those who have spoken to me have probably had fairly positive or neutral comments. If, however, I go out and read online on articles that have been posted, then there are not so nice comments.
What do you think about it?
– They are welcome to talk to me about it, because I like to discuss.
TV4 Nyheterna has contacted the Vårdförbundet, which refrains from commenting on the case.