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Colombia: National union mobilisation in defence of Health

Published: 9 October 2010
Google translate: 

 Bogota. The “Inter sectoral working group for the defence of Health as a fundamental right”, of which our affiliate, the National Union of Health and Social Security (SINDESS) is a member, carried out a massive parade of health workers through Bogota streets on October 6th with the support of the CUT-Colombia and other 7 union organisations of the health sector and Users’ Leagues. More than 3 thousand workers joined this parade (administrative staff, nursing staff, medical staff and even specialists), which proved the country’s public opinion, that the situation of Colombian Health System is really serious.



The protest, which also involves local meetings in various hospitals throughout the country, has the aim of demanding two main aspirations, which are evidence of the seriousness of the problem:



1. The maintenance of the public hospitals network, which has been systematically dismantled for years and as a result has been reduced to its minimum level of coverage and quality of attention.

2. Respect to labour rights for the staff working in health services; 200 thousand workers have lost their formal conditions of employment in the last 10 years. Currently, the number of workers is lower than 30.000, the rest are outsourced or are part of the so called cooperatives of associated work, and what’s even worse, they are in the streets.



UNI Americas expresses deep solidarity to our affiliate and remains alert in relation to the called “project of statutory law”, that really does not acknowledge the right to health as a fundamental right and transforms it essentially in a mere commercial activity. As regards the labour issue, labour intermediation has become a mechanism of control and the formal labour relationship, so indispensable in the health sector, has almost disappeared.



Since 2007, UNI Americas has been following the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) experts’ opinion in relation to outsourcing in the health system in the Americas; before 2015, the health system will count with a discouraged labour force and with low qualification profiles, because they will be working for a commercial activity and not in the service of a fundamental right for the men and women of this hemisphere.



Contact: jose.molina@uniglobalunion.org