

This was stated by Horacio Giménez, a nurse working at the San Justo Polyclinic, in the context of the struggle of the staff of the municipal hospitals of La Matanza, who are demanding salary improvements, working conditions and the transfer of precarious workers to permanent positions. In addition, they denounce pressures to hide their claim and lack of supplies in health centers.
By Soledad Martínez
martinezgsoledad@gmail.com
The health workers of La Matanza continue with their plan of struggle to demand salary and labor improvements. The protest, which involves the San Justo Central Polyclinic, the Teresa Germani Hospital in Gregorio de Laferrere, the Children’s Hospital in San Justo and the Equiza Hospital in González Catán, also demands the transfer of precarious workers to permanent positions.
However, far from receiving concrete answers to their demands, they denounce pressure from the Ministry of Health to remove the signs and flags that make the conflict visible.
“They don’t want the signs and the flag to be visible. We are open to negotiations, that is what they have to understand, but they have to offer us something,” says Horacio Giménez, a nurse at the San Justo Central Polyclinic and one of the leaders of the claim.
The flag that flies in the polyclinic with the phrase “Enough of salary violence” has been a cause of friction between workers and authorities. “They tell us that we exercise some kind of violence, but in reality we receive the violence. They don’t come close at all, they don’t come close to talk about the lack of supplies, for example,” adds Giménez.
Health personnel denounce that the crisis in municipal hospitals is not only salary-related, but also structural. The lack of essential supplies such as reliverán, simple buscapina and pervinox affects the daily care of patients. “If the statistics for care in public hospitals are going down, it’s because of this, not because we don’t want to work,” the nurse explained.
Despite the precariousness and the lack of resources, Giménez emphasizes that the health personnel maintain their commitment to the community. “People have always been cared for,” he says, although he recognizes that the lack of personnel worsens the situation.
From the sector, they demand a different attitude from the municipal Executive. “Today they don’t come to negotiate, they come to ask. To ask that we take down the posters, to ask that we take down a flag, to ask that we continue collaborating. And we continue to work a lot since the pandemic. Health people provide everything and we are not being recognized.”
The pandemic was a breaking point for many workers, who feel that their effort has not been rewarded. “The health people responded and did not ask for anything in return, which is not right either. During the pandemic, we were asked to work a lot, without having knowledge because we did not know what Covid was and today they are turning their backs on us regarding the requests to work better. There is quite a bad predisposition,” says Giménez.
“We are really having a hard time”
The workers also question the municipal management and the official discourse. “From the speech in La Matanza to the facts there is a big difference. We are really having a hard time and if they want to differentiate themselves from the National Government, we would have to have a decent salary, have supplies, not let the professionals leave, not let the things that deteriorate go unfixed.”
In addition, they warn about the serious economic situation of some health workers. “Public health has to be for people who are having a hard time, who have lost their jobs, who are having a hard time. We ourselves have colleagues who are working and are in a situation of poverty with salaries of $250,000, it is not even enough for them to load the SUBE card,” denounces Giménez.
As for the steps to follow, the workers will continue with assemblies and will submit a note to the Executive with signatures of all the health personnel of the affected centers. This will be presented at the Municipal Reception Desk, at the Union and at the local Health Secretariat.
“We hope not to have to take other measures and that there is a response. Everything will be defined in the assemblies,” conclude the workers, who hope that their struggle will be heard and attended to.
Te Puede Interesar:
https://www.instagram.com/diarioncomatanza
https://facebook.com/diarionco