UNI in solidarity with 500,000 striking healthcare workers in Argentina

Half-a-million healthcare workers in Argentina are holding a nationwide strike today, 22 February, to demand a pay rise to meet high inflation in the country.

UNI Global Union affiliate, the Federation of Argentine Health Workers Associations (FATSA), called industrial action after the hospital chamber of commerce refused to negotiate a wage increase for workers in the healthcare sector.

A statement from FATSA said:

“We have not yet been able to close the salary update for the year 2023 and the inflation rates recorded in January definitively pulverized the purchasing power of the salaries of the entire operation. We have held countless joint meetings at the Ministry of Labour, and privately, looking for alternatives to reach an agreement…We are not willing to tolerate employers which finance themselves with the low salaries of workers.”

Annual inflation reached more than 210 per cent in Latin America’s third largest economy at the end of 2023, with a further increase of 20.6 per cent in January. Meanwhile, poverty has reached a 20-year high affecting 57.4 per cent of the population, according to a January study by the Catholic University of Argentina.

 “UNI and its unions worldwide stand with healthcare workers in Argentina as they strike to demand a salary they can live off. As inflation soars, workers need a pay rise to match,” said UNI General Secretary, Christy Hoffman. “We call on employers to get their heads out of the sand and enter into dialogue with FATSA now.”

In a letter of support to FATSA, UNI Americas Regional Secretary Marcio Monzane wrote:

“We support all the federation’s demands and actions to ensure salaries are updated so that each and every worker in the health sector does not lose their purchasing capacity at this time of high inflation. Likewise, we call on the (hospital) business chambers to listen to the demands of health workers and put an end to intransigence so that, through dialogue, they negotiate in good faith with FATSA.”

UNI’s Head of Care, Alan Sable, sends a solidarity message to striking FATSA members:

https://x.com/alansableUNI/status/1760435286855799110?s=20