Healthcare is not a commodity: UNISaúde in Brazil launches national campaign to humanize working conditions at hospital operator Hapvida

On 10 September, the Brazilian Union Network UNISaúde, an alliance of unions representing healthcare workers across the country, launched a campaign to denounce the poor working conditions suffered by workers at Hapvida. This company is the largest in the history of private healthcare in Brazil – more than 300 hospitals, 800 clinics, and growing fast – between hospitals and insurance plans, it provides services to over 10% of the Brazilian population.

Through testimonial videos, organized workers are exposing the poor working conditions and asking for solutions to problems such as understaffing, which has resulted in physical and mental illnesses, or managerial harassment, which also has a detrimental impact on workers’ health.

“With this understaffing, with this harassment, there has been a huge increase in illnesses in the hospital. There have even been cases of suicide,” said Mª Josefina Da Silva in one of the campaign videos.

The workers also denounce the implementation of the use of technological management in the form of the Electronic Health Record, which adds pressure and makes their work even more fast-paced.

Highlighting these problems, the unions are asking the company to immediately come to the table to negotiate solutions. UNISaúde has been denouncing these problems since April, but has unsuccessfully tried to establish a dialogue with the company’s management. In Fortaleza, for example, Hapvida went to court, advocating for an injunction against union protests instead of negotiating.

So far, as Hapvida has not been open to collective bargaining to address complaints about poor working conditions, UNISaúde has opted for the dissemination of these videos and actions in front of the company’s hospitals and clinics.

“The voices of Hapvida workers will continue to be amplified until the company addresses all the issues that are affecting workers’ health,” said Lucia Lindner, Regional Director of UNI Care Americas.

“We hope that Hapvida will sit down and negotiate with the unions to find a solution for safe working environments and working conditions,” she concluded.

The Brazilian Union Network UNISaúde is organized by UNI Americas, the continental arm of UNI Global Union, a global union representing more than 20 million workers and 900 affiliated unions. The UNISaúde Union Network includes UNI affiliated unions in Brazil.