BOLIVIA: Health workers go on strike in Bolivia

Record ID: 340723

  • Title: BOLIVIA: Health workers go on strike in Bolivia
  • Date: 10th February 2012
  • Summary: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (FEBRUARY 09, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF THE MARCH OF HEALTH WORKERS, CHANTING AND CARRYING SIGNS WOMAN WALKING WITH BANNER SAYING 'DOWN WITH THE SUPREME DECREE 1126, DOWN WITH THE MINISTER OF HEALTH' ENTRANCE OF THE MIRAFLORES HOSPITAL, CHAINED AND LOCKED HOSPITAL SIGN ENTRANCE OF HOSPITAL VARIOUS OF INSIDE THE HOSPITAL WITH PATIENTS ON THE FLOOR BE
  • Embargoed: 25th February 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Bolivia, Plurinational State Of
  • Country: Bolivia
  • Topics: Health,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA8C3D1R3SN2WMNK1MKENX186YO
  • Story Text: Bolivian heath workers marched through La Paz on Thursday (February 09) to protest against a new law that will increase their working hours.
    A presidential decree is set to increase their day from six to eight hours.
    Doctors, who already held a 24-hour strike last week, want the government to overturn the decision. They insist that the ruling will not improve conditions and they implored President Evo Morales to help build a better infrastructure for the nation's healthcare.
    As protesters waved their banners downtown, short-staffed hospitals were sent into disarray.
    Patients at Miraflores Hospital Clinic crowded the corridors, waiting for treatment.
    Progress clearing the backlog was slow and this soon led to a shortage of beds.
    Natividad Herbas was among patients left without proper care. She blamed the doctors and showed no support for the march.
    "Here the doctors only see to people for a short time, then they go and leave us like this, abandoned. When we need them most, there are no doctors. The doctors are blatantly carrying out these marches," said Herbas.
    Some families complained that they were left to treat relatives by themselves.
    Paola Tola, who was attending to her sick cousin, was angered by the doctors' action.
    "I wish that they worked eight hours a day and finished their work. They wanted to study medicine and they should follow that through. Lots of people are suffering from bad attention, from shuttling back and forth. It is down to us to look after our own sick relatives. I have my cousin here and I personally have to look after him. We don't deserve this treatment. We are paying for a service and so they should treat patients better," said Tola.
    The streets of La Paz were also chaotic and traffic ground to a halt along the march's route.
    Protesters made their way to the Ministry of Health to voice their discontent, shouting chants against Morales.
    Jose Gonzales, Executive Secretary of the Bolivian Health Confederation, said Morales's government was moving away from its socialist roots.
    "In regards to Supreme Degree 1126, which is reinstating the eight-hour days hours for health workers, we categorically reject it because it does not state that workers must be incorporated into the General Labour Act. The Government should be more democratic and socialist, as claims to be," said Gonzales.
    The conflict provides yet another hurdle for Morales to climb. He has recently battled bad publicity during heated protests by an indigenous group against a road through the Amazon, which he had originally backed. Morales then retracted the plan, but faced further protests from coca farmers who were in favour of the road, saying it would aid trade and development.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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