You heard it on No Te Duermas
Norma Lezama, General Secretary of the Association of Professionals and Technicians (APyT) at Garrahan Hospital, spoke with No Te Duermas. With her combative and democratic perspective, Lezama discussed the fight for better working conditions and salaries for the healthcare team.
The symbolic embrace and no response
At the beginning of the interview, she said: “We have not received a response; the situation for healthcare workers is desperate. Recently, we have been working hard to call an assembly to gather everyone and discuss how to demand our rights.”
“There has been no announcement from the authorities to solve the problem; they do acknowledge that the demand is legitimate. According to the president of the board of directors, they have reported that 1,700 hospital workers are below the cost of the 700,000 pesos basket.”
She added: “This situation requires adjusting the salaries. When we walk around the hospital, workers tell us they can’t bear it any longer. A nurse who works in the emergency room also works as a night guard in San Martín; despite that, he sought additional work, but his body couldn’t handle it, and he had to quit. He said it was the only way to make sure his children had what they needed.”
Poverty situation
“These testimonies keep repeating in the assembly. Today, a worker with 700,000 pesos is in a state of poverty. In addition, in just eight months, their situation has changed drastically. A colleague received a 100,000 pesos electricity bill, which she has to pay. Workers have to cover expenses, and with a salary and the work we do in the hospital, it’s unsustainable.”
“A nurse earns 700,000 pesos a month, a radiologist on call reaches a million, and then there are those with a bit more seniority who will see deductions for income tax.”
“If you earn 1.8 million because of seniority or a management position, they will deduct 500,000 because that extra money is considered wealth. It’s crazy because the family basket costs 1.4 million,” she pointed out.
Argentina is the most expensive country in the world with the lowest salaries
“Rentals are at 400,000 pesos for a studio apartment. I read in an article that Argentina is the most expensive country in the world with the lowest salaries. The situation is desperate. At the hospital, many of us reflect what’s happening to most workers in our country.”
Returning to the assembly issue, Lezama said: “The assembly was massive, with much participation and the decision to fight for our salaries. We don’t subscribe to the theory of resignation. I studied at the university; I am the daughter of workers. My father had a third-grade education and wanted me to study and improve myself.”
“I believe we are parents trying to ensure our children repeat that story; that they can study, have a good pair of shoes, and if they want to go to a dance, go well-dressed. It’s very simple.”
In a critical vein regarding the situation, Norma Lezama admitted: “They are telling us: your child won’t be able to study, won’t be able to go to a club to play sports, and you must send them to work at fifteen and be poor. As a union representative, it’s tough to hear this from coworkers. It’s a big responsibility to decide on these measures in a hospital like ours.”
“I studied at the University of Buenos Aires, I am a licensed nutritionist, specialized in pediatrics, and a diabetes educator. It took many years of study because the degree is five years, plus three more years of specialization, and being a diabetes educator is a lifelong task; every year you must update yourself with new technologies.”
In this context, she elaborated: “You must ensure that the patient and their family can manage the work of the pancreas cells that don’t function. Each person is at the hospital with their specialty, dedicated to that for life. Temporarily dealing with these issues as a representative of the professionals and technicians at such a hospital is a great responsibility.”
Doctors’ salaries and the basic basket
Lezama also addressed doctors’ salaries, which do not cover the basic basket, stating: “A doctor with ten or fifteen years of experience earns 1.5 million pesos, and to attend a course or conference, you are constantly studying. Courses are very expensive and we pay for them with our salaries. It’s not that we are paid for the courses, specializations, postgraduate studies, or doctorates.”
“We must generate knowledge and research. I found yesterday’s assembly very dignified, where workers faced a union like UPCN that issued a statement saying it’s not the time for reckless decisions and that they are trying to defend jobs.”
“Essentially threatening workers that we might lose our jobs if we protest for a decent salary.”
“UPCN is the majority union, and as with the authorities, the president of the board of directors told us; the demand is legitimate, but Minister Caputo does not authorize the increase. What UPCN needs to do is meet with Minister Caputo and tell him, this can’t continue.”
Embrace of Garrahan Hospital and the strike on September 4
“The response from all the healthcare team at Garrahan Hospital is to fight for salaries, to defend them. That’s why on the 28th we will do a symbolic embrace of this hospital that moves and is what it is because of the prestigious healthcare team. On September 4, we will go on strike, ensuring minimum services.”
“Notifying the community of the situation, we are defending the hospital and the salaries of the workers who are part of the hospital.”
Concluding the interview, Norma Lezama spoke about ATE’s support: “The internal board of ATE Garrahan and other groups of workers who self-organize because there are many of us, also show some weariness of politics; people are very tired of everything, of politics; that’s what you hear. Workers self-organize, liberate themselves, think, and decide as lucid individuals what to do.”
“If UPCN’s decision is to let us all become impoverished, they should talk to the workers. The full permanent workforce is 4,500, with outsourced staff from cleaning and food services, and trainees, residents, and interns, we are around 6,500,” she concluded.
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