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Neuere Nachtichten: Internationale Nachrichten 2008.


Inhaltsverzeichnis

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Dezember 2007

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Indien: Streik gegen Personalmangel mit Zugeständnissen beendet

World Socialist Web Site 22.12.07:

Krankenhausangestellte in Neu Delhi beenden Streik

In Neu Delhi, Indien, beendete Personal fünf größerer Krankenhäuser ihren zweitägigen Streik am 17. Dezember nach Verhandlungen mit dem delhier Ministerium für Gesundheit und Familie. Arbeiter am G.B. Pant Hospital, Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan Hospital, Maulana Azad Medical College, Guru Nanak Eye Centre und Maulana Azad Dental Hospital streikten wegen akuter Personalknappheit. Die Gewerschaft "Hospital Workers Union" sagte sie hätte den Streik beendet, nachdem man sich mit der Regierung auf eine Kürzung der Probezeit für Vertragsarbeitit von fünf auf zwei Jahre einigen konnte.
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Sri Lanka: Krankenschwestern streiken für Schwesternzimmer

World Socialist Web Site 22.12.07:

Krankenschwestern streiken in Sri Lanka um den Personalraum zu verteidigen

Krankenpflegepersonal des peradeniyanischen staatlichen Krankenhauses in Sri Lanka trat am 18.Dezember in einen unbefristeten Streik, um gegen die Abschaffung einer ihrer Schwesternzimmer zu protestieren. Der Personalraum soll durch einen Aufenthaltsraum ersetzt werden, zu dem ausschließlich Ärzte zutritt haben sollen. Die Krankenschwestern erklärten der Presse, dass sie nicht etwas gegen Ärzte hätten, sondern, dass sie wegen der Beibehaltung ihrer Personalräume streiken würden. Sie fordern, dass die Krankenhausleitung einen separaten Aufenthaltsraum für Ärzte an einem anderen Ort baut
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Australien: Arbeitsniederlegung und Demo zum Parlament

World Socialist Web Site 22.12.07:

GesundheitsarbeiterInnen in Victoria marschieren vor das Parlament

Bis zu 4.000 ArbeitnehmerInnen aus dem Gesundheitswesen des australischen Bundesstaates Victoria legten am 20. Dezember für 24 Stunden die Arbeit komplett nieder und marschierten zum Parliament House in Melbourne. Zuvor scheiterten Verhandlungen mit der Labour Regierung von Victoria. PhysiotherapeutInnen, SozialarbeiterInnen, RadiologInnen und LogopädInnenen liegen bereits seit dem 5. Dezember mit der Landesregierung im Disput, um eine besserer Bezahlung, mehr Personal und verbesserte Karierebedingungen durchzusetzen. Während die beteiligte Gewerkschaft Health Services Union (HSU) nach anfänglichem Zögern den Streik als legitim betrachtet, wird der Sachverhalt von Krankenhausleitungen als illegal eingestuft. Betroffene Krankenhausleitungen drohen den Gesundheitsarbeitern und der Gewerkschaft HSU mit Klagen vor dem Bundesgericht.
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Schottland: Personal des Inverclyde Royal Krankenhauses votiert für Streik

IWW Scotland 20.12.07

KrankenhausarbeiterInnen vom Interclyde Royal Hospital haben sich mit überwältigender Mehrheit für einen Streik wegen Parkgebühren ausgesprochen


Eine erstaunliche Mehrheit von 87% des Personals der Gesundheitseinrichtung aus Greater Glasgow und Clyde sprach sich dafür aus zu streiken, sollten die Gebühren nicht gestrichen werden. Die britische Gesundheitsgewerkschaft Unison führte eine entsprechende Briefwahl unter Mitgliedern durch, um den Druck auf die Gesundheitssekretärin Nicola Sturgeon zu erhöhen. Diese soll veranlasst werden ihre Entscheidung, den MitarbeiterInnen 7£ pro Tag für die Benutzung der Krankenhausparkplätze in Rechnung zu stellen, rückgängig zu machen.

Der Ausgang der Streikabstimmung signalisiert, dass bis zu 1,000 Mitglieder der Gewerkschaft in Inverclyde Royal, darunter Krankenschwestern, HausmeisterInnen und MTAs, den Krankenhausbetrieb zum erliegen bringen könnten

...
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USA: Krankenschwestern streiken für eigene Gesundheit und mehr Personal

World Socialist Web Site 18.12.07:

KrankenpflegerInnen bestreiken die Klinikkette Sutter in Kalifornien

Das Krankenpflegepersonal 13 Krankenhäuser der San Francisco Bay Area legte am 13. Dezember die Arbeit nieder. Sie streiken gegen das private Gesundheitsimperium Sutter, um bessere Vertragsbedingungen wie höhere Löhne und eine erträgliche Personalausstattung durchzusetzen. Die Arbeitsniederlegungen sollten nach Angaben der California Nurses Association am Samstag enden, aber viele Krankenhäuser werden voraussichtlich das Personal bis zum 17. Dezember aussperren. Als Vorwand dafür wird angegeben, dass bis dahin Verträge mit Zeitarbeitsfirmen laufen würden, die solange Personal anstelle der Streikenden zu Verfügung stellten. Das Pflegepersonal gibt an, dass die derzeit sehr geringe Personaldichte zur Folge hätte, dass Pausen nicht mehr genommen werden könnten, dadurch werde die Behandlung von Patienten gefährdet. Zusätzlich demonstrieren die KrankenpflegerInnen für die Anerkennung von arbeitsbedingten Krankheiten wie etwa Rückenproblemen als Berufskrankheiten. Die Krankenschwester - Veteranin Thorild Urdal, die bereits 23 Jahre für das Alta Bates Summit Hospital arbeitet, berichtete, dass sie als Schadenersatz für die vielen nicht genommene Pausen innerhalb der letzten 10 Monate bereits 6000 Dollar erklagt hätte: „Ich möchte aber kein Geld, ich möchte eine Pause haben, damit ich ausgeruht Patienten betreuen kann. Wenn ich gezwungen bin die ganze Nacht ohne einen Schluck Wasser oder einen Snack durchzuarbeiten, geht das zu Lasten der Pflegequalität.“
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USA: Streikende Krankenschwestern durch StreikbrecherInnen dauerhaft ersetzt

World Socialist Web Site 18.12.07:

Management at struck Appalachian hospitals refuse cooling-off period

Management at the nine Appalachian Regional Hospitals (ARH) in West Virginia and Kentucky refused to allow striking nurses to return to work December 10 after a plan was floated by governors of the affected states to end the two-month walkout. The leadership of the Nurses Association, which represents the 650 striking ARH nurses, unanimously agreed to a proposal by Kentucky Governor-elect Steve Beshear and West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin to return to work without a contract for 90 days while negotiations restart. But ARH management refused to go along with the proposal. Rocco Massey, CEO of the Beckley-ARH Community, told the Register-Herald, “We already have new [replacement] nurses working under the new contract, and they are very happy with it. We can’t operate under two contracts at the same time.
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Griechenland: Generalstreik und ÄrztInnenstreik gegen Rentenreform

Linke Zeitung 12.12.07:

Heute haben mehr als 2,5 Millionen ArbeiterInnen in Griechenland mit einem Generalstreik das Land lahm gelegt. Das ist fast die Hälfte aller ArbeiterInnen. Sie streikten gegen die geplante Pensionsreform, die eine Anhebung des Rentenalters um 2 Jahre vorsieht sowie Rentenkürzungen. Es war der größte Streik seit Jahrzehnten. ...


World Socialist Web Site 7.12.07:

On December 4, hospital doctors and college teachers began a three-day strike to oppose pension reform plans and to demand better working hours and pay. Doctors are also demanding more funding for the health service. Hospitals in Athens and the neighbouring port of Piraeus were only accepting emergency cases. Hospital doctors continued working elsewhere around the country.


Siehe auch

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Panama: ÄrztInnen streiken für höhere Gehälter und kostenlose Gesundheitsversorgung

World Socialist Web Site 11.12.07:

Panama: Striking public health doctors revise their demands

Panamanian public health doctors, on strike since November 5, lowered their pay demands and added a demand that the government increase the public health budget. The union representing the 5,000 striking doctors lowered their wage demand from a 60 percent increase down to 33 percent. However, the government is still offering only a 20 percent raise. Ongoing negotiations have yet to produce an agreement. Nevertheless, union leaders announced that they are considering suspending the strike. The strikers are also demanding that the government provide free medical care; currently families collectively pay US$250 million in Social Security fees for medical care.
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Polynesien: Teilerfolg für bessere Krankenhausfinanzierung

World Socialist Web Site 8.12.07:

Health sector strike called off in French Polynesia

An 11-day strike by doctors and nurses in French Polynesia has been called off after talks between the doctors’ union and the government reached a “compromise” settlement over hospital funding. Health workers had been pushing for increased funding to tackle the run-down state of the public health system. Under the compromise agreement, the government will only increase the 2008 budget to provide more funding for the main public hospital Mamao, in the capital Pape’ete.

The extra funding will reportedly to go toward improving cardiovascular emergency and paediatric outpatient services. It was also agreed that staff contracts will undergo a review and audit in time for hiring for a new general hospital, currently under construction and due to open near the end of next year.


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Finnland: Öffentlich angestellte PharmzeutInnen streiken für höhere Gehälter

World Socialist Web Site 7.12.07:

Pharmacists in Finland continue industrial action

Pharmacists in Finland continued their industrial action this week in a dispute over pay. On December 3, staff at 150 pharmacies joined the dispute, resulting in the industrial action now encompassing 60 percent of pharmacies nationwide. The strike was called by the Finnish Pharmacists’ Association, which is demanding a pay increase averaging 500 euros a month. Negotiations have been taking place over a two-week period. Pharmacists’ Association president Inka Puumalainen said, “Compared to other fields or other professionals in the private sector, our salaries are 500 or even 900 euros less than the others. We feel that our job in coming to the pharmacy is a demanding job of an expert. But the salary has not met this expectation.”


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November 2007

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Sri Lanka: 20.000 Angestellte des Gesundheitswesens streiken gegen Fingerabdruckgeräte zur Registrierung der Anwesenheit

World Socialist Web Site 1.12.07:

... around ... 20,000 health employees at 20 Sri Lankan hospitals went on strike on November 27. ... The health workers are demanding the removal of machines that record fingerprints to register arrival and departure times at workplaces. They also want the immediate payment of outstanding overtime and weekend pay. The strike was widespread and included employees from the Castle Street Maternity Hospital, De Soyza Maternity Hospital and General Hospitals at Kalutara Nagoda, Badulla, Matara and Galle, Teaching Hospitals at Mahamodara and Galle, Peradeniya Children’s Teaching Hospital, Base Hospitals at Hambantota, Mulleriyawa and Gampola, and the Chest Hospital at Welisara.
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Ungarn: Streiks gegen Privatisierung der Sozialversicherung

LabourNet Newsletter 23.11.07:

Nicht nur die Eisenbahnern streikten gegen Privatisierung der Sozialversicherung

Am vergangenen Mittwoch hatten vor allem die beiden Eisenbahnergewerkschaften erneute Streiks angekündigt - weil die Regierung in den Gesprächen mit den Gewerkschaften keine Bereitschaft zeigte, auf ihre sogenannten Reformen der Kranken- und Rentenversicherung zu verzichten. Aber auch Lehrer in Budapest, Krankenhauspersonal in grossen Kliniken und zahlreiche weitere öffentliche Bedienstete traten in kürzere und längere Streiks - die Eisenbahner, geschlossen, allerdings am wirkungsvollsten: 1.300 Züge fielen aus. Ein aktueller (englischer) Bericht "Wednesday rail strikes bring Hungary to a standstill" vom 22. November 2007 bei Caboodle HU befasst sich vor allem mit den Auswirkungen im öffentlichen Verkehr:

http://www.caboodle.hu/nc/news/news_archive/single_page/article/11/wednesday_ra/?cHash=84d03fc4d4

An den Protesten beteiligt sich die ungarische Ärztekammer (AP-Meldung 21.11.07).

Bisher wird die Gesundheitsversorgung in Ungarn aus einem gemeinsamen nationalen Fonds finanziert. Die weitaus meisten Einnahmen dieses Fonds stammen aus Löhnen und Gehältern, wodurch sich wie in vielen anderen Ländern der Rückgang des Anteils der Löhne und Gehälter am Gesamteinkommen des Landes negativ auf die Finanzen auswirkt. Bei den angestrebten Veränderungen im Gesundheitssystem geht es z.Z. vor allem um die Zerschlagung dieses Fonds in viele einzelne, wobei 49% der Anteile der neu entstehenden Fonds an privatwirtschaftliche Organisationen übergeben werden sollen (Pharma Poland News 11.10.07).

Ungarn zeichnet sich gegenüber anderen europäischen Ländern durch eine geringe Lebenserwartung der Männer, eine hohe Selbsttötungsquote und den welthöchsten Anteil von Arzneimittelkosten an den Gesamtausgaben im Gesundheitswesen aus (WHO-Report, Bericht des Ungarischen Gesundheitsfonds).


Siehe auch

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Großbritannien: Krankenschwester wegen Whistleblowings entlassen - Solidaritätsstreik

Junge Welt vom 12.11.2007:

In Manchester ist in der vergangenen Woche die bis dahin im psychiatrischen Dienst des öffentlichen Gesundheitssystems arbeitende Krankenschwester und gewerkschaftliche Vertrauensfrau Karen Reissmann entlassen worden. 150 ihrer Kollegen sind deshalb am Donnerstag einen unbefristeten Streik getreten, um ihre Wiedereinstellung zu erzwingen. In den vergangenen Wochen hatten bis zu 700 Beschäftigte mehrfach gestreikt, um eine Entlassung zu verhindern. Karen Reissmann wurde suspendiert, weil sie in der Presse über die katastrophalen Zustände im britischen Gesundheitssystem und in der Psychiatrie gesprochen hatte…

Siehe auch

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USA: Gewerkschafts-Initiative zur gesetzlichen Festlegung von Pflegeschlüsseln in Texas

Brownsville Herald 3.11.07:

When Laura Dominguez is at work, she often feels torn. A registered nurse in the intensive-care unit of Valley Baptist Medical Center-Brownsville, Dominguez sometimes cares for three critically ill patients at once. She might have two patients on a ventilator and another who needs frequent monitoring. If one patient is in crisis, she can’t spend much time with the others, she said. It’s a juggling act that Dominguez worries could put patients’ lives at risk, she said. “It happens way too often,” she said of nurse-to-patient ratios that she calls “unsafe.” “We don’t have time to know the patients or the time to assess them well enough,” she said. “And a lot of nurses have left (the hospital) because of it.”

In Texas and several other states, nurses’ unions and groups are going public with their concerns about staffing shortages and nurse-to-patient ratios in hospitals. ... “It’s a huge issue for us,” said Kathy McGregor, a registered nurse who works with California-based National Nurses Organizing Committee, a nurses’ union. ...

The committee, formed by the California Nurses Association, first mobilized in Texas earlier this year, pushing for state legislation that would have mandated certain nurse-to-patient ratios. The bill, filed by Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, died in committee during the 2007 legislative session. ... That was not the case in California. In 1999, California became the first state in the United States to pass a law requiring particular staffing ratios in hospitals. Under California law, for example, the nurse-to-patient ratio in intensive care has to be 1-to-2, and 1-to-5 in a regular medical unit. The nurses’ union plans another attempt to bring similar legislation to Texas in 2009, McGregor said.


Siehe auch

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Oktober 2007

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Portugal: Massendemonstration für ein soziales Europa

Montagsdemo Dortmund:

200.000 Menschen demonstrierten in Lissabon

Vergangenen Donnerstag demonstrierten zu Beginn des EU-Gipfels ca. 200.000 Menschen in den Straßen von Lissabon. Die Demonstration, die unter dem Motto "Für ein soziales Europa" stand, war die größte Demonstration,.die Portugal seit Jahrzehnten erlebt hat. Gemessen an der Einwohnerzahl, die nur ein Bruchteil der deutschen beträgt, ist das in etwas gleichbedeutend, als würden in Berlin 1,5 Mio. demonstrieren. Den meisten deutschen Medien war diese Demonstration in ihrer Berichterstattung zum EU Gipfel nicht einmal eine Fußnote wert. In der Tagesschau und den großen bürgerlichen Zeitungen wurde sie bisher komplett totgeschwiegen. ...
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Jordanien: Aufstände wegen Durchfall

LabourNet Newsletter 9.11.07:

... Am 28. Oktober suchten etwa 400 Menschen das Krankenhaus bei Sakeb (nördlich von Amman) auf - sie alle hatten heftig Durchfall. Sie meinten, das käme vom Wasser - Lecks in der Abwasserkanalisation hätten zum Eindringen in die Trinkwasserzufuhr geführt. Eine Erscheinung, vor deren Möglichkeit Behörden zuvor gewarnt hatten. Der Gourverneur des Bezirks und die Minister der Zentralregierung aber wussten es besser: die ganze Epidemie käme von einem örtlichen Restaurant - in dem wohl allerdings längst nicht alle gegessen hatten, die betroffen waren. Woraufhin sich am nächsten Tag ungefähr 700 Demonstranten protestierend vor dem Gouverneurssitz einfanden - die von der Aufruhrpolizei mit Tränengas empfangen wurden: 10 Verletzte waren die Bilanz. Dies war bereits das fünfte Mal in diesem Jahr, dass in Jordanien ganze kleinere Ortschaften Epidemien registrierten, die auf Kanalistaionsmängel zurückzuführen sein können, das erste Mal allerdings, dass es so zu heftigen Protesten kam. Alle Regierungsebenen gestanden ein, weder die Stadt noch die -einwohnerInnen hätten die finanziellen Möglichkeiten, ein besseres Wassersystem zu bezahlen. Der zentrale Haushalt aber hat andere Prioritäten - so kommt es in dem (englischen) Bericht "Ten injured in diarrhoea riots" der UN-Nachrichtenagentur IRIN vom 1. November 2007 heraus: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75072
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Australien: Krankenpflegepersonal streikt für höhere Gehälter und bessere Arbeitsbedingungen

World Socialist Web Site 3.11.07:

About 500 nurses employed in Tasmania’s public hospitals marched from the Royal Hobart Hospital and to the state parliament on October 31. Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) members voted to reject the Labor government’s pay offer of 10.5 percent over three years and resolved to step up work bans initiated three weeks earlier. ... The nurses want equal pay with interstate colleagues, retention of staffing levels and the exclusion of non-nursing staff from nursing roles. They are also protesting long working hours with many expected to do 17-hour straight shifts.
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Sri Lanka: Streik und Fingerabdruck-Geräte zur Kontrolle der Anwesenheit

Sri Lanka National News 31.10.07:

A large number of non – medical health personnel including clerks and minor employees yesterday staged a half day protest in hospitals in Colombo and other parts of the country against alleged moves to prune overtime and day off payments. Health Sector Trade Union Combined Front’s Convener Gamini Kumarasingha told the Daily Mirror about 10.000 employees struck work from 8.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon in the main hospitals in Colombo Matara Galle, Nagoda, Badulla, Gampola, Peradeniya and Kalutara. ...

Meanwhile, Health Ministry Secretary Dr. Athula Kahandaliyanage said the issue was a making of the minor employees themselves. "The Ministry in a bid to maintain discipline in the health sector introduced finger scanning machines to register the arrival and departure of employees. It is a well known fact that a large number of employees had been receiving huge OT payments illegally. Now they can’t fake the times of arrival and departure to claim overtime improperly. So now they complain that we have pruned their overtime payments," he said.
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Indien: Sit-down gegen Privatisierung

World Socialist Web Site 3.11.07:

Health workers at the government maternity hospital in Ongole in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh held a sit-down protest (dharna) on October 27 against the division of the Health Department into three parts. Workers fear that the government proposal is to prepare the way for privatisation of state health services. They also claim that the change will affect promotion opportunities and limit transfer options. Currently workers can opt to work in primary health centres, district hospitals or teaching hospitals. The protest was called by the United Medical and Health Employees Union.

Siehe auch

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Burundi: Kostenlose Gesundheitsversorgung für Kinder, Streik für höhere Gehälter und Rolle des Internationalen Währungsfonds

World Socialist Web Site 2.11.07:

Nurses at government hospitals in Burundi are taking indefinite strike action because they have not been given the increases in pay and benefits that they were promised three years ago. The nurses earn only US$35 per month—only just over the figure identifying absolute poverty. The nurses have become much busier since the government announced it was offering free health care for young children and expectant mothers. ... The government has now promised to give a pay rise of up to 34 percent by next year, but has been told by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to increase its revenues before it does so.


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USA: Therapeutinnen wegen Bewirtung streikender Krankenschwestern entlassen

World Socialist Web Site 30.10.07:

Two recreational therapists who lost their jobs at the Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH) Psychiatric Center in Hazard, Kentucky, have filed a lawsuit charging management with victimizing them for bringing sodas and snacks to striking nurses on the picket line back on October 1. Cynthia Boggs and Amber Tye say when they returned to work after dropping off food they purchased for picketing nurses, they were called into a meeting by management and told they had violated a directive prohibiting employees from fraternizing with strikers. They were then suspended for not clocking out. The lawsuit notes that clocking out is not required for employees who stay within one mile of ARH’s facility. ...

Siehe auch

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USA: Forderung nach Mitbestimmung der Pflegekräfte bei der Personalausstattung aufgegeben

World Socialist Web Site 26.10.07:

Earlier this month, the Maine State Nurses Association (MSNA) Unit 1 capitulated to the demands of Eastern Maine Medical Center’s (EMMC’s) administration. The union officials gave up on the demand for an independent professional practice committee. This committee would allow nurses to decide what staffing levels were necessary to guarantee patient safety. ... The former chairman of the hospital’s department of surgery went on to say that allowing nurses any independence regarding their own staffing levels would be “intolerable” for the administration. ...

Siehe auch

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Sri Lanka: ÄrztInnen streiken für mehr ÄrztInnen

World Socialist Web Site 20.10.07:

Doctors in the outdoor department of the Amparai Base Hospital in Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province went on strike on October 12 protesting staff shortages and authorities’ refusal to fill vacancies. They claim the hospital has a shortfall of 34 doctors and that there is only seven to service the outdoor department, even though the required number is 15. The strike was organised by the Government Medical Officers Association.
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Frankreich: Behindertenverband, Verband der Arbeitsunfall-Opfer und Asbest-Opfer organisieren Demonstration

World Socialist Web Site 18.10.07:

Around 15,000 people marched from Montparnasse in Paris on October 13 in what was the first mobilisation of workers against the cuts in social security spending announced by President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government. The protest was called by the National Federation of Handicapped and Work Injury Victims (Fnath) and the National Association for the Defence of Asbestos Victims (ANDEVA).
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USA: Krankenschwestern streiken für mehr Personal und Krankenversicherung

World Socialist Web Site 16.10.07:

Almost 5,000 nurses at fifteen Northern California hospitals went on strike October 10 against the Sutter Health Chain over health insurance and staffing issues. The California Nurses Association charges that while wages have risen and the hospital chain is observing nurse-to-patient ratios, Sutter has reduced the number of nurses’ assistants. “We’re doing the lab work, we’re doing what the aides used to do,” a striking nurse told the San Francisco Chronicle. ... According to Sutter Corporate Watch, Sutter is legally a “non-profit” organization, but it is comprised of dozens of for profit and non-profit subsidiaries. The watchdog group has charged, “Some Sutter hospitals have earned such incredibly high profits that they’re rare in virtually any industry.”
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Finnland: 12.800 Krankenschwestern drohen mit Kündigung zum 19. November

BBC News 16.9.07:

The Union of Health and Social Care Professionals (Tehy) is demanding a 24% wage increase for its members over 28 months, rejecting employers' 12% offer. Tehy says half of its 124,000 staff are struggling to survive because of low pay, and many now want to work abroad. If no compromise is found, the mass resignations will cripple Finland's healthcare system, the union warns. Tehy's Jaana Reijonaho told the BBC News website that 12,800 members would quit on 19 November if their demand for higher wages was not met. ... Nurses in Finland's public sector say they are poorly paid and often have to cope with huge workloads. A nurse's average salary is about 1,900 euros (£1,324), compared to 2,300 euros (£1,602) average pay for full-time workers across the country, Ms Reijonaho said. ...


Siehe auch

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Polen: Kliniken werden evakuiert

Nach Newsletter der Ver.di Betriebsgruppe Knappschaftskrankenhaus Sulzbach vom 6.10.07:

Kliniken in Polen werden evakuiert - Massenkündigungen von Ärzten

„Am 1. Oktober hat sich die Lage in vielen Krankenhäusern Polens dramatisch zugespitzt. Und das ist das Thema, das die polnische Öffentlichkeit wirklich aufrüttelt. Gestern lief die Kündigungsfrist von Tausenden Ärzten ab. Viele kamen tatsächlich nicht zur Arbeit. Der Protest der Ärzteschaft, der bereits im vorigen Jahr begann, im Mai dieses Jahres die Form eines gesetzmäßigen Arbeitskampfes um Strukturreformen und Gehaltserhöhung annahm, wurde von den Gesundheits- und Kassenbehörden wie von den Krankenhausdirektionen, die an die Kommunen gebunden sind, nicht ernst genommen. Gesundheitsminister Zbigniew Religa schloss eine Gehaltserhöhung (bis 1250 und bei Spezialisten bis 1750 Euro) für dieses Jahr aus. Er versicherte zugleich und mehrmals, dass das schwarze Szenario, nach dem die Ärzte ihre Kündigungen auch vollziehen würden, nicht eintreten wird. Doch es geschah…“

© Artikel von Julian Bartosz, Wroclaw, im Neuen Deutschland vom 02.10.2007; Link: http://www.nd-online.de/artikel.asp?AID=117076&IDC=2
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USA: Verpflichtung von Unternehmen, für Krankenversicherung zu sorgen = Sozialismus

Nach Newsletter der Ver.di Betriebsgruppe Knappschaftskrankenhaus Sulzbach vom 6.10.07:

USA: Krankes System

"Sozialismus“ riefen die Kritiker lauthals, als Hillary Clinton 1993 ihren Plan zur Reform des US-Gesundheitswesens vorlegte. Sozialistisch fanden sie vor allem die Tatsache, dass die damalige First Lady die Arbeitgeber dazu verpflichten wollte, ihre Angestellten mit einer Krankenversicherung auszustatten, ohne Schlupflöcher. In den USA gibt es 47 Millionen Unversicherte

© Artikel von Markus Zienerim Handelsblatt, 5.10.2007; Link: http://www.handelsblatt.com/News/Journal/Kommentar/_pv/_p/204051/_t/ft/_b/1332127/default.aspx/krankes-system.html


Siehe auch

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September 2007

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Elfenbeinküste: ÄrztInnenstreik weitet sich aus

LabourNet Newsletter 21.9.07:

... Bei der ersten "Streikrunde" im August 2007 gab es in den Krankenhäusern noch einen Notdienst - nun nicht mehr. Seit dem 5. September streiken die Ärzte und das "höhere Personal" der Krankenhäuser komplett - mit Ausnahme der Militärhospitale, die Staatspräsident Gagbo dann auch gleich besuchte und zur "Front" erklärte. In vielen Krankenhäusern hat nun auch die Gewerkschaft des Pflegepersonals den Streik ausgerufen, erste Technikergewerkschaften sind gefolgt. ... Die Regierung hat eine Notsitzung durchgeführt, nach der an die pensionierten Ärzte appelliert wurde, beim Notdienst zu helfen. (Das generelle Pensionsalter beträgt 55 Jahre). Zugleich haben auch die Lehrergewerkschaften bekannt gemacht, sie bereiteten einen Streik vor - die allgemeine Lebensmittelverteuerung ist der Hintergrund für eine solche Streikbewegung bisher im öffentlichen Dienst. ...

Siehe auch

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Großbritannien: Gewerkschaftsaktion gegen Schließung von "Behinderten"-Werkstätten

In Großbritannien sollen nach Plänen des Managements 43 der 83 Remploy-Werke geschlossen werden, wodurch 3.000 Menschen - davon 2.300 behindert - erwerbslos würden. Die Gewerkschaften, die die Remploy-Beschäftigten vertreten, haben einen Plan vorgelegt, nach dem die Betriebe ohne Verluste weiter laufen könnten, wenn öffentliche Stellen verstärkt Aufträge an Remploy vergeben - ohne dabei selbst höhere Kosten zu haben. Die Gewerkschaften betonen, dass Betriebe wie Remploy eine Notlösung darstellen, weil die Diskriminierung behinderter Menschen auf dem Mainstream-Arbeitsmarkt beseitigt werden müsse.

Die Gewerkschaften haben einen "Marsch zum Erhalt der Remploy-Jobs" organisiert, der im August 2007 in Aberdeen startete, über London geht und am 24. Sepetember bei einer Konferenz der Labour-Partei enden wird.

Die Geschäftsleitung von Remploy sagt indessen, niemand werde erwerbslos. Man werde durch die Umstrukturierungsmaßnahmen die Möglichkeiten schaffen, 20.000 behinderte Personen in herkömmliche Betriebsstätten zu vermitteln. Dies koste 5.000 £ pro behinderter Person, während jeder Job bei Remploy 20.000 £ pro Jahr koste.


Quellen

Siehe auch

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August 2007

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Australien: 5.000 Beschäftigte öffentlicher Krankenhäuser verweigern Reinigungsarbeiten

World Socialist Web Site 1.9.07:

Support staff in Western Australia’s public hospitals voted on August 27 to increase work bans in their long-running pay dispute with the state Labor government. The Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU) members, including cleaners, caterers, patient-care assistants, security staff and orderlies, are refusing to remove rubbish or change dirty linen. Around 5,000 support workers began a series of two-hour stoppages in mid-August for a 6 percent wage rise over 3 years. LHMU secretary David Kelly said that support workers have not received a pay rise in 14 months and most earn less than $35,000 a year.
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Türkei: Trinkwasserknappheit in Ankara

Telepolis 6.8.07:

Nur im Zweitagesrhythmus fließt ab sofort in Ankara das Wasser aus den Leitungen – und das voraussichtlich die kommenden sechs Monate. ... Ohne Zweifel hat die landesweite Dürre die Hauptstadt besonders hart getroffen. In einer von Natur aus wasserarmen Region des Landes gelegen und wegen mangelnder Investitionen in die Wasserversorgung, haben die ausbleibenden Niederschläge dieses Jahr dafür gesorgt, dass der Wasserbedarf der Stadt, der auch in der Vergangenheit immer wieder nur mit Nöten gedeckt werden konnte, in diesem Jahr nicht sichergestellt werden kann. ... Professor Mikdat Kadioglu von der Universität Istanbul warnt, dass die Widrigkeiten des diesjährigen Sommers aufgrund des Klimawandels schon bald Normalität werden könnten. Seinen Berechnungen zufolge wird die Türkei bis zur Mitte dieses Jahrhunderts allein aufgrund des Klimawandels und der sich deshalb häufenden Dürren mindestens 20 Prozent ihrer landwirtschaftlichen Anbaufläche einbüßen.
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Großbritannien: Beschäftigte psychosozialer Dienste streiken gegen Suspendierung einer Gewerkschaftsvertreterin

World Socialist Web Site 31.8.07:

Hundreds of mental health staff began a three-day strike on August 29 to protest the suspension of a shop steward. Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust suspended Karen Reissmann, a psychiatric nurse with more than 25 years in the profession. Unison members voted by a majority of nearly 90 percent in favour of industrial action in a ballot result announced last week. ... Reissmann was suspended from her job in June for allegedly bringing the trust into disrepute and misusing her time as a community psychiatric nurse. In opposition to this claim, Reissmann, a member of the Socialist Workers Party, has stated that she was suspended due to her union activities as a shop steward and because she has consistently opposed cuts in mental health services in the city.
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USA: Schließung des Martin Luther King Jr. Krankenhauses in Los Angeles

Wikipedia: Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospita:

On August 10, 2007, after the hospital failed a comprehensive review by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, federal officials decided to revoke $200 million in funding. ... Los Angeles County health director Dr. Bruce Chernof moved quickly to notify the county Board of Supervisors of his decision to begin shutting down the facility. ... On August 13, at a specially convened board meeting, LA County supervisors voted unanimously to shut inpatient services and promised to pay up to $16.3 million to nearby private hospitals and doctors bracing for a deluge of patients from the closed facility.

World Socialist Web Site 22.8.07:

Carlos Rosales, an immigrant worker, described how the hospital closure will affect him and his wife and daughter: “Two months ago I had to use the emergency room here and everything went well. Now that they have announced the closure of the hospital, they are taking away what we need. Many people in this neighborhood do not have any insurance and this is the only way to get care. ...

“Everybody I talk to is for keeping the hospital open. My husband works at a Dixon Technology, where they make parts for aircraft. Dixon starts everybody at the minimum wage and gives raises according to seniority. My husband has been at Dixon for four years and makes $9.25 an hour. The company does have medical insurance, but we would have to pay $50 a week just for my husband. We cannot afford that.” ...

The hospital stopped receiving patients and closed its emergency room on August 10. Hospital administrators decided to close the ER only hours after finding out that the hospital had failed a review that determined it was not meeting minimum standards in 8 out of 23 areas: governing body, patients’ rights, quality and performance, nursing services, pharmaceutical services, physical environment, infection control and emergency services. ... Rather than investing in the hospital, retraining personnel and providing decent healthcare for the community, county leaders and the MLK administration shut it down ...


Siehe auch


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USA: Beschäftigte des Gesundheitswesens streiken für Begrenzung des Anstiegs ihrer Krankenversicherungskosten

World Socialist Web Site 21.8.07:

Healthcare workers at 23 group homes for the retarded operated by Sunrise Northeast in central and eastern Connecticut struck August 17 after negotiators refused to provide a guarantee in their new two-year contract that the cost of medical care would not outstrip wages. The New England Health Care Employees, District 1199, which represents the 189 striking workers, is seeking a 3 percent raise combined with a limit on increases in medical costs that will not undermine workers’ wage increase.


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USA: Beschäftigte des Gesundheitswesens streiken für bessere Krankenversicherung

World Socialist Web Site 21.8.07:

More than 100 workers at two healthcare facilities on Long Island, New York, walked out on strike last week. The workers, who provide healthcare support at the Ronkonkoma and Hempstead locations of Premier Home Health Care Services Inc., are protesting their own lack of healthcare benefits.


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Pakistan: Nichtmedizinische GesundheitsarbeiterInnen streiken für Wiedereinstellung

World Socialist Web Site 18.8.07:

Paramedics, technicians, sanitation workers and class-III and class-IV employees from the Ayub Medical Complex in Abbottabad began an indefinite strike on August 10. They presented a log of 13 demands, including reinstatement of two employees from the complex’s blood bank. Workers claim that they were unfairly terminated. As the strike entered its second day, management suspended 15 employees, banned union activities at the hospital and refused to have any discussion with workers’ representatives. While the strike, which was organised by the Paramedics Association, has stopped the complex’s three operating theatres, care is still being provided to cardiac and intensive care units.
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Pakistan: ÄrztInnen demonstrieren für Weiterbeschäftigung

World Socialist Web Site 18.8.07:

More than 50 doctors retrenched from the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) in Karachi, held a sit-down protest on Sharea Faisal, the city’s main thoroughfare, on August 11. Organised by the newly formed Doctors’ Action Committee, they were demanding the federal government review its decision to terminate their services from August 6. The doctors marched from JPMC to the city carrying banners and chanting slogans. After police were deployed to break up the demonstration, the doctors marched to the Karachi press club.
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Neukaledonien: Krankenschwestern protestieren für Wiedereinstellung einer Kollegin

World Socialist Web Site 18.8.07:

About 20 nurses picketed the Nouville Psychiatric Centre in Noumea on August 13. Members of the Kanak and Exploited Workers Union (USTKE), they were protesting the refusal of New Caledonia health authorities to reimburse a nurse for a training course she attended in France two years ago. The workers held a two-day strike over the issue late last month.
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Korea: Streik von Klinikbeschäftigten erfolgreich beendet

World Socialist Web Site 11.8.07:

Thousands of striking healthcare employees at four Seoul hospitals affiliated with the Yonsei University Health System (YUHS) ended a month-long strike on August 7, following an agreement brokered by the National Labor Relations Commission. The workers went out on July 10 demanding a 4 percent pay rise, seniority allowances and regular work status for part-time employees. Yonsei management offered only 2 percent and refused to negotiate on the other issues. The union accepted a compromise based on a 3 percent annual salary increase, 300,000 won ($US325) special compensation payment for unionised workers and an improved welfare package. Management also promised to establish a fund, equivalent to 1.7 percent of the total wage, to improve working conditions for temporary employees.

Bei dem Streik wurden Beschäftigte ausgesperrt: siehe World Socialist Web Site 4.8.07

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Fidschi: Streikende Krankenschwestern festgenommen

World Socialist Web Site 11.8.07:

Twenty striking nurses in Fiji were taken in for questioning by police on August 7 when protesting outside a government building where a cabinet meeting was in progress. The Fiji Nursing Association members were on strike against a 5 percent pay cut and a lowering of the retirement age. They had been out for 14 days. Those seized were taken to the Police Academy and questioned before being released. The police commissioner warned that although the nurses were not charged, statements were taken and a file would be kept open. Even as the military-appointed interim government stepped up its repression of nurses, the Public Employees Union and Viti National Union of Taukei Workers called off a six-day strike over the same issues, ordering their members to resume normal duties on August 8.

Siehe auch

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Argentinien: Gesundheitsgenossenschaft Junín - Über eine von den Beschäftigten angeeignete Klinik

Im Jahr 2002 hatten sich Angestellte der Privatklinik Junín SRL zu einer Gesundheitsgenossenschaft zusammengeschlossen (Cooperativa de Trabajo de la Salud Junín Ltda.), um die Klinik zu übernehmen, die aus wirtschaftlichen Gründen geschlossen werden sollte. Die Kooperative strengte ein Strafverfahren gegen den privaten Klinikbetreiber wegen betrügerischer Misswirtschaft an, pfändete das Gebäude als Bürgschaft für nicht ausgezahlte Gehälter und machte sich an die Arbeit.

Heute bietet die Klinik, die monatlich rund 4.000 Patientinnen versorgt, u.a.:

  • Lebensunterhalt für ca. 100 Familien
  • Sprechstunden mit ÄrztInnen aller Fachrichtungen, inkl. Psychologen- und Zahnärzte-Praxis, Physiotherapie, Krankenpflege, Suchtberatung (Alkoholismus, Tabaksucht, Drogensucht)
  • Notdienst rund um die Uhr
  • eine juristische Beratungsstelle
  • eine sehr preisgünstige Familienversicherung für monatlich 15 Pesos (ca. vier Euro), die zur Inanspruchnahme von Behandlungen und von Rabatten in Apotheken, bei Optikern u.ä. berechtigt

Zur Zeit wird die Kooperative von einer gerichtlichen Räumung bedroht, die sie durch Kauf des Gebäudes abzuwenden versucht.

Siehe: Bericht von Dora de la Vega von der Kooperative bei LabourNet 21.8.07.


Siehe auch

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Juli 2007

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Neuseeland: 800 Krankenhaus-Servicekräfte ausgesperrt

the gossip 13.7.07 (mit Video):

Around 800 hosiptal workers who are members of the Service and Food Workers’ Union (SFWU) were locked out of hospitals in Invercargill, Timaru, Palmerston North, Hawkes Bay, Wanganui, Rotorua, Gisborne, Tauranga, Auckland and Northland. The workers had been campaigning for their employer, Spotless Services, to sign up to a national pay deal that would deliver $16 million worth of pay rises to over three thousand low paid hospital workers. ...


Siehe auch


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Israel: 450 SozialarbeiterInnen streiken gegen Überlastung und für höhere Budgets

World Socialist Web Site 20.7.07:

From July 18, judges will not receive outside expert opinions to help them decide whether to release detainees from prison, due to strike action by 450 social workers whose job it is to assess the extent to which detainees pose a serious danger. The social workers say they are taking industrial action because their caseloads are too heavy and many of them are forced to pay work expenses, such as travel and phone costs, out of their own pockets. In addition, they say the government does not allow certain available positions to be filled—such as when a social worker goes on maternity leave or takes a sabbatical—which could help ease their work burden. The social workers involved in the latest action also treat suspects accused of violence or sex offences and question children who have been assaulted. ... The base salary of a senior social worker of this type, with a college degree and 17 years of experience, is NIS 5,500 a month (US$1,180).
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Südafrika: MitarbeiterInnen von Notfallkliniken streiken wegen Überlastung

World Socialist Web Site 20.7.07:

Emergency health workers employed in the Port Elizabeth area walked out on strike on July 16. Xolile Vena, regional secretary of the National Allied and Health Workers’ Union, told the Herald that workers had been stretched to the limit in the last two months as only six emergency workers had been forced to service the entire Nelson Mandela Bay area — with a population of more than 1.3 million — with only three ambulances. He explained that the “gripes” date back as far as 2004 and include staff and vehicle shortages, overtime payments, the training of paramedics and ambulance response time.


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Bulgarien: ÄrztInnen der Notfallklinik Pirogov in Sofia streiken für höhere Gehälter und bessere Ausstattung

World Socialist Web Site 20.7.07:

On July 13, medics at the main Pirogov emergency medical centre in Sofia, Bulgaria, began indefinite strike action. Medics will treat emergency patients and will postpone only non-urgent surgery. These are requirements under Bulgarian law.
Workers at the state-run hospital, the largest in the country, claim that the health minister, Radoslav Gaidarski, violated an agreement regarding reforms in the hospital and new appointments on the hospital’s board of directors. The protest is the latest action in a dispute that began in May over higher wages, demands for better equipment and structural changes in the hospital.
Dr. Svetozar Sardovski, the spokesman of the Pirogov strike committee, said, “We are launching an indefinite strike today. We demand higher pay.” He added that hospital equipment “is 30 to 40 years old and poses a danger to patients.” The medics announced that the strike would continue until Prime Minister Serge Stanishev or his deputy, Emel Etem, signs an agreement addressing their grievances.
Health Minister Gaidarski has condemned the action as illegal, adding the workers would receive no pay for the duration of the strike. Doctors are poorly paid in Bulgaria and earn an average 500 levs (US$350) a month, while nurses earn a maximum of 300 levs.

Siehe auch

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Polen: Solidarität mit streikenden Krankenschwestern

LabourNet Newsletter 10.7.07:

Am letzten Freitag bekamen die streikenden Krankenschwestern Unterstützung von ihren KollegInnen aus anderen Gewerkschaften. 2.200 kamen und besuchten sie in ihrem Camp direkt vor dem Regierungsgebäude. Am heutigen Dienstag [10.07.2007] soll wieder weiterverhandelt werden. Auch viele Krankenhausärzte streiken, machen Dienst-nach-Vorschrift oder helfen nur noch in Notfällen. 200 von ihnen sollen laut einem Bericht der AFP in den Hungerstreik getreten sein. Mittlerweile schlägt die Stimmung im Land allerdings um. Die Presse beschreibt sie z.T „als vom Teufel besessen“, genau wie Premier Kaczyski, der sie ebenfalls als „Satan“ bezeichnet und sagt, dass „wir uns von ihnen nicht terrorisieren lassen“.

LabourNet Newsletter 19.7.07:

Polnische Krankenschwestern und Ärzte räumen ihr Zeltdorf
Am Sonntag, dem 15.07.2007, haben die Krankenschwestern und die Ärzte ihr fast einmonatiges Sit-In beendet und das Zeltdorf nahe dem Regierungssitz in Warszawa (Warschau) geräumt. Ihr ursprüngliches Ziel, nämlich eine erhebliche Gehaltssteigerung haben sie verfehlt, trotzdem sprechen sie von einem Erfolg. „Es ist ein Erfolg, weil wir gezeigt haben, dass wir geschlossen auftreten können, fähig sind uns zu organisieren und dass wir die Unterstützung der Gesellschaft haben“, wird Barbara Wysocka, eine Krankenschwester aus Gdansk von AP zitiert. Die Gewerkschaft liess verlauten, dass der Protest nicht zu Ende sei und im September fortgeführt werde, obwohl die Regierung bereits für das nächste Jahr eine Gehaltssteigerung angekündigt hat. Für dieses Jahr sei eine Erhöhung nicht möglich, da die Staatsfinanzen dies nicht zuließen, so die Regierung.
Zusammenfassung der AP-Meldung “Polish nurses, doctors end sit-in protest over health spending without raises sought”


Siehe auch

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Kanada: MitarbeiterInnen des Gesundheitswesens von Saskatchewan streiken für höhere Gehälter und gegen Überlastung

World Socialist Web Site 10.7.07:

Twenty-eight health care professionals walked off the job last week in Saskatchewan, with the prospect that they could be joined by as many as 2,700 members of the Health Sciences Association of Saskatchewan (HSAS) across the province if mediated talks do not yield an agreement. Although HSAS served strike notice over a week ago, the union that represents therapists, technicians and other health professionals has pledged not to expand the job action while the dispute remains in mediation. In addition to wages, the main issues cited by the union in the stalled negotiations include the enormous workload faced by their members due to the refusal of the provincial NDP government to fund increased staffing.


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Indien: ÄrztInnen demonstrieren für reguläre Arbeitsverhältnisse

World Socialist Web Site 7.7.07:

On July 1, around 300 doctors employed on a contract basis by Zila Parishads (district committees) in Punjab protested at the Municipal Corporation Office in Amritsar and then held a march. The doctors, who came from districts across Punjab, were demanding the regularisation of employment conditions and basic benefits, such as maternity leave for female doctors, sick leave and the introduction of a post-graduate quota. The doctors have threatened to continue their agitation until the government acts on their demands.
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Neuseeland: LabormitarbeiterInnen streiken für höhere Gehälter

World Socialist Web Site 7.7.07:

On June 29, New Zealand hospital laboratory workers called off rolling strikes to allow consideration of a new pay offer. About 1,200 laboratory workers at 15 of the country’s district health boards (DHBs), the New Zealand Blood Service, Southern Community Laboratories and Medlab South have been involved in a pay dispute since last year. Rolling strikes at various hospitals and laboratories began in November. The conflict escalated last month as the Counties Manukau and West Coast DHBs issued suspension notices to striking staff. The Medical Laboratory Workers Union said industrial action ended after a new offer from the DHB that members will vote on by secret ballot.

Siehe auch

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Juni 2007

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Polen: Krankenschwestern/Pfleger und ÄrztInnen protestieren

Seit einer Woche protestieren Krankenschwestern/Pfleger vor dem Regierungssitz in Warschau. Sie fordern höhere Gehälter und mehr Investitionen in die öffentliche Gesundheitsversorgung.

Bereits am 21.5.07 waren ÄrztInnen an 200 staatlichen Kliniken in den Streik getreten. Sie fordern Gehälter im Bereich von 1800 EUR für FachärztInnen und 1280 EUR für AllgemeinmedizinerInnen (Ärztezeitung 22.5.07).

Das Durchschnittseinkommen von KrankenpflerInnen in Polen beträgt rund 250 bis 340 EUR. Zum Vergleich: Der gesetzliche Mindestlohn beträgt 230 EUR. Die Lebenshaltungskosten in Polen liegen etwa 25 Prozent unter denen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (ECA International 17.11.05). In den Großstädten sind die Preise im Schnitt etwa ein Fünftel niedriger als die deutschen.

Die Proteste begannen am 19. Juni mit einer von der Gewerkschaft organisierten Demonstration. Rund 50 Frauen machten in der Nacht darauf eine Straßenblockade, die von der Polizei attackiert wurde. Eine Frau erlitt dabei einen Herzanfall und musste ins Krankenhaus. Vier Frauen besetzten den Amtssitz des Premierministers Jaroslaw Kaczynski und begannen einen Hungerstreik, um ein Gespäch mit Premierminister Jaroslaw Kaczynski durchzusetzen. Dieser sagte, die "Damen" hätten mit ihrem Sitzstreik eine "Straftat" begangen, und er könne nicht "mit der Pistole auf der Brust" mit Straftätern verhandeln.

Etwa 30 Meter vom Amtssitz des Premiers entfernt entstand ein Zeltdorf mit rund 100 Zelten, das zunächst von der Polizei umstellt wurde.

Die Krankenschwestern erhielten Unterstützung von sozialistischen und anarchistischen Gruppen und von Gewerkschaften, u.a. von der LehrerInnen-Gewerkschaft Zwiazek Nauczycielstwa Polskiego. Am 23.6. organisierte die unabhängige Gewerkschaft für Berbau und Landwirtschaft Sierpien '80 (August '80) eine Demonstration. In einigen Großstädten wurden am 25.6. Solidaritätsmärsche gemacht.

Der Streik wird voraussichtlich bis zum 18. August dauern. Die Krankenschwestern benötigen materielle und finanzielle Unterstützung.


Quellen


Siehe auch

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Südafrika: Streik im öffentlichen Dienst

Seit dem 1. Juni 2007 wird im öffentlichen Dienst Südafrikas gestreikt. Gefordert werden mindestens 10% höhere Gehälter. Die Regierung hat bisher 7,25% angeboten. Die Inflation liegt bei 6-8%.

Telepolis 24.6.07:

Der Streik hat sich zum größten Arbeitskampf seit dem Ende der Apartheid entwickelt. Mehr als 500. 000 Krankenhausbedienstete und Lehrer traten in den Ausstand, am Mittwoch der vergangenen Woche schlossen sich Beschäftigte der Müllabfuhr und des öffentlichen Nahverkehrs in vielen Städten an. An den Demonstrationen des Gewerkschaftsdachverbands Cosatu die Mitte voriger Woche in über 40 Städten stattfanden, beteiligte sich eine halbe Million Menschen. ...

Gerade die Verteuerung der Lebenshaltung hat in den vergangenen Jahren zu einer verstärkten Abwanderung von qualifizierten Arbeitskräften beigetragen. Denn eine Krankenschwester verdient in einem staatlich geführten Krankenhaus selten mehr als 450 Euro im Monat, und die Lebenshaltungskosten in Südafrika sind ebenso hoch wie in Westeuropa. Insbesondere im Gesundheitswesen hat der Streik zu Konflikten geführt. Die Polizei ging mit Gummigeschossen gegen Streikposten vor und setzte Soldaten als Streikbrecher ein. Die Regierung rechtfertigte den Einsatz von medizinischem Personal der Armee mit der Notwendigkeit, den Betrieb der Krankenhäuser sicherstellen zu müssen. Es häufen sich die Meldungen von Patienten, denen der Zugang zu Krankenhäusern von den Beschäftigten verweigert wurde, ein Kind soll anschließend gestorben sein. Darüber hinaus müssten arbeitswillige Beschäftigte vor den Streikenden geschützt werden, hieß es aus Regierungskreisen.

Zur weiteren Eskalation hat in der vergangenen Woche die Nachricht beitragen, dass 600 Krankenhausbeschäftigten gekündigt wurde, weil sie "unerlässliche Dienste" nicht ausgeführt hätten und so einen medizinischen Notstand herbeigeführt haben sollen. Von den Gewerkschaften werden diese Anschuldigungen zurückgewiesen. Der Wochenzeitung Mail&Guardian sagte eine Vertreterin der Gewerkschaft Nehawu, dass der tatsächliche Grund für die Kündigungen im gewerkschaftlichen Engagement der Entlassenen liege. Der medizinische Notstand in der öffentlichen Gesundheitsversorgung Südafrikas sei eine vom Staat zu verantwortende und seit Jahren bekannte Realität, die nun nicht als vorgeschobener Grund für die Entlassungen herhalten dürfe, so die Gewerkschafterin weiter.

Siehe auch


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Türkei: Streik bei Fresenius-Tochter Novamed

Seit dem 26. September 2006 streiken Beschäftigte der Fresenius-Tochter Novamed in Antalya für einen Tarifvertrag und die Anerkennung der Gewerkschaft Petrol–Is. Auf einer Tagung des Bundesverbands der Migrantinnen in Deutschland e.V. vom 01.-03.06.07 wurde eine Solidaritätserklärung verabschiedet. Siehe dazu Fresenius.

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Fidschi: Streik im öffentlichen Dienst

World Socialist Website 30.6.07:

Fiji’s public sector unions have now issued a 28-days notice to strike over the military regime’s decision to cut public servants’ pay by 5 percent and reduce the retirement age from 60 to 55 years. The strike by the Confederation of the Public Sector Unions (CPSU) is set to begin at midnight July 19. The CPSU consists of the Fiji Teachers Union, Fiji Nursing Association, Fiji Public Service Association and the Air Traffic Management Association of Fiji. A CPSU spokesman said the decision was reached after months of trying to negotiate with the interim administration and follows the breakdown of talks over a union proposal presented to cabinet last week accepting the pay cut provided the current rate of pay is restored in interim stages starting in late December.


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Bangladesch: ÄrztInnen streiken für Festanstellung

World Socialist Website 30.6.07:

Over 300 doctors, medical officers and consultants employed on contract at the Bangladesh Institute of Research and Rehabilitation in Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders (BIRDEM hospital) at Shahbagh began an indefinite strike on June 25. They want regularisation of employment and establishment of a uniform service rule covering all hospital employees. The strike erupted after doctors were sent a letter stating that their contracts would not be renewed. Some doctors have been working at the hospital for up to 15 years. Strikers held a daylong demonstration at the hospital on June 25 that stopped scheduled surgery and in-patient admissions. The outpatient department was partially operational because striking doctors provided emergency services. About 550 doctors are currently employed at BIRDEM hospital but since 1992, in-patient doctors have been employed on contract. One doctor said that despite the contract hire system no doctor had been displaced until now.


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Australien: PsychotherapeutInnen/PsychiaterInnen streiken für mehr Personal

World Socialist Website 23.6.07:

About 50 psychiatrists employed in public hospitals in Adelaide, South Australia (SA) held a stop-work meeting on June 18 to protest staff shortages. The Salaried Medical Officers Association claims that many professional workers in the state public hospital system are threatening to resign over workloads and poor conditions. The meeting demanded that the state Labor government hire 15 additional psychiatrists, enhance working conditions and improve patient care. The government has refused to negotiate with the Association for up to 18 months and is attempting to delay the issue further by seeking to put it before an Industrial Relations Commission hearing on June 19.

World Socialist Website 30.6.07:

About 50 psychiatrists in the state public hospital system in South Australia (SA) plan to resign en-mass next week in protest over staff shortages and increased workloads. The state Labor government of Premier Mike Rann has refused to negotiate with the Salaried Medical Officers Association.
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Australien: Öffentlich angestellte ZahnärztInnen fordern 31% mehr

World Socialist Website 30.6.07:

South Australian public sector dentists have escalated work bans in a dispute over pay and staffing levels. They are seeking a 31 percent pay rise over three years in a bid to establish wage parity with the dentists in the private sector. A spokesperson for the Public Service Association said work bans would cost the government tens of thousands of dollars because they include providing patients with free dental care at clinics.


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Israel: Histadrut erklärt Generaldisput für den öffentlichen Dienst

World Socialist Website 22.6.07:

Histadrut Labor Federation head Ofer Eini declared a general labour dispute on June 19 in protest over the Finance Ministry’s refusal to raise civil servants’ salaries. Public employees have demanded a monthly addition of nearly 13 percent of their salaries. Negotiations on public employees’ rights began nine months ago. Civil Servants Union head Ariel Yaakovi said that public employees have not had a collective agreement with the public sector in five years, Army Radio reported.
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Neuseeland: Streikdrohung von Reinigungs- und Hilfskräften hat gewirkt; Streiks in anderen Bereichen

World Socialist Website 9.6.07:

Last-ditch talks have stalled nationwide industrial action by 2,000 New Zealand hospital workers and averted one of the biggest lockouts in 50 years. The Service and Food Workers Union (SFWU) issued strike notices under which cleaners, cooks and orderlies would have walked off the job for 55 minutes in every hour beginning midnight June 5. Four contracting companies, which employ the 2,000 workers, responded by issuing retaliatory lockout notices. Another 1,800 workers employed directly by district health boards (DHBs) would not have been affected by the lockout. A SFWU spokesman said a last-minute pay offer by DHBs had “opened sufficient space for the union to return to mediation”. The latest offer of a 50-cent increase would lift the entry-level hourly rate to $13.60 and the top rate to $15.60. The union said while the offer is not a settlement, “it does change the options”. The SFWU claims that it also now has the possibility of auditing the DHBs’ financial figures. ...

Meanwhile, industrial action by hospital radiographers has entered its eighth week with no sign of a breakthrough. The radiographers are refusing to work outside the hours of 8 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. and will perform fewer examinations. The action involves radiology staff in the Southland, Otago, Canterbury, Hutt, Lakes, Bay of Plenty and Tairawhiti DHBs who are not receiving the same pay and conditions as colleagues in other areas.

In a separate dispute, a scheduled two-day strike by 500 administration staff in public hospitals in Wellington, Wanganui and Taranaki was called off by the Public Service Association (PSA) after its received improved pay offers. After nearly 12-months of negotiations the workers had rejected previous pay offers that were below the level of inflation.


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Hongkong: ÄrztInnen drohen mit Streik

World Socialist Website 9.6.07:

Frontline doctors in Hong Kong’s public hospitals held a press conference on June 5 to announce a strike on July 1 unless the Hospital Authority addressed a series of issues. They want improved working conditions and salaries to stem the flow of doctors from public to private hospitals. Attending the conference were representatives of the Hong Kong Medical Association, the Hong Kong Doctors Union and legislator Kwok Ka-ki, who represents the medical sector in the Legislative Council. The doctors complained that the monthly entry salary of new graduates has fallen since 1999 from $HK52,012 ($US6,753) to $HK39,409 in 2007 forcing many graduates into the private sector. They are also calling for a reduction in working hours claiming that at least 25 percent of frontline doctors work between 65 and 80 hours a week.

World Socialist Website 30.6.07:

More than 1,000 public hospital doctors at Hong Kong’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital will hold a sit-in protest on June 30 in a campaign for improved pay and working conditions. They want the hospital to restore new recruits’ wages to the levels of eight years ago and a pay rise in line with 4.96 percent proposed for civil servants. Hong Kong Public Doctors’ Association president Paul Shea Tat-ming said previous salary cuts had hit morale and subsequently the quality of medical services. ... The Association is also demanding the government address the issue of extended working hours and implement a committee report recommending doctors not work more than 14 hours a day and receive extra payment when on-call.


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Australien: Pflegekräfte lehnen 10,5% Gehaltserhöhung ab

World Socialist Website 9.6.07:

South Australian public hospital nurses have rejected the state Labor government’s latest pay offer of a 10.5 percent pay increase over three years. The nurses want a 14 percent pay rise over three years and improved working conditions. A Nurses Federation spokesperson said that union members would implement rolling work bans, including bans on doing paper work, over the next four weeks starting June 4 with regional and country nurses playing a central role in industrial action.


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Bulgarien: Pflegekräfte und ÄrztInnen demonstrieren für höhere Gehälter und bessere Arbeitsbedingungen

World Socialist Website 8.6.07:

This week, more than 100 doctors and nurses employed at the Pirogov emergency hospital in Sofia, Bulgaria, held a demonstration to protest low pay and poor working conditions. They are calling for increased government subsidies for emergency services and a fairer distribution of the money earned by the hospital for the clinical treatment of patients. The June 5 rally was the latest action in a dispute in which staff took strike action for one hour on May 18. Following the latter action, employees threatened to launch a full-scale strike if the health ministry did not meet their demands. More than 2,000 staff at the hospital have signed a petition calling for a strike.

The hospital is the main emergency hospital in the city and the biggest in the country.


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Tonga: Gewerkschaft für öffentliche Dienste stellt Ultimatum

World Socialist Website 2.6.07:

Tonga’s Public Service Association (PSA) has given the country’s prime minister until June 15 to respond to demands in a dispute over pay. Around 800 public servants are demanding the government deliver pay increases promised following strike action in 2005. The six-week strike in 2005, which posed a threat to the ruling monarchy, ended after the government agreed to pay increases of of 60, 70 and 80 percent over two years as it carried out a wage review. The public servants want an extention of the memorandum of understanding signed at the time by the PSA and the government before it expires at the end of June this year.
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Mai 2007

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Pakistan: Zeltdorf vor Al-Khidmat Hospital in Peshawar

World Socialist Website 2.6.07:

Laid-off employees from Al-Khidmat Hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan established a protest camp outside the local press club on May 29 and issued a media statement on the dispute. They are demanding reinstatement, removal of the hospital’s chief executive and payment of gratuity. The workers have threatened to take the issue up with provincial legislators and demonstrate outside the provincial assembly during the budget session if their demands are not met. They claim that hospital administration called in the staff committee last month to supposedly discuss the gratuity issue but instead called police to arrest workers’ representatives.


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Fidschi: Angestellte des öffentlichen Dienstes stimmen für Streik gegen Lohnsenkung

World Socialist Website 5.5.07:

By an 82 percent majority, members of the Fiji Nurses Association (FNA) voted in favour of striking over a 5 percent pay cut imposed on civil servants by the country’s military government. Public sector workers, members of various unions and associations have already voted overwhelming for industrial action, but a Confederation of Public Sector Unions spokesman said none of its affiliates had yet issued the required 28-days strike notice. The peak union body claims it is waiting for all unions to complete ballots so they can “sit and talk their strategies through”. Public Service Association members were the first to complete their voting, with 92 percent of members voting to strike, followed by an overwhelming endorsement by Teachers Union members. Airport Terminal Management Association members voted 98 percent in favour of industrial action. Affiliates of the Council of Trade Unions, including the Fijian Teachers Association, Public Employees Union and the Viti Taukei Workers Unions, conducted secret ballots but are yet to finish counting votes.


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Äthiopien: ChirurgInnen und Orthopädie-ÄrztInnen setzen höhere Nachtdienstzulagen durch

World Socialist Website 25.5.07:

Resident surgeons and orthopaedic doctors called a strike on May 11 at the Black Lion Hospital in Addis Ababa University, which continued until May 21. The strike was called off after the university agreed to their demands. The strikers complained about receiving a much smaller sum for night shifts than other doctors at the hospital. Those on strike were paid only 16 Br (US$1.85) a shift whereas others were paid 110 Br (US$12.72). One of the strikers told the Addis Fortune, “We take all the risk and responsibility like any consultant in night duty. Why are we being paid less while life is unaffordable in Addis?” Ethiopia is amongst the worst countries in the world for the number of doctors, with one doctor for every 33,000 people, according to figures from the World Health Organisation (WHO).


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Neuseeland: Laborangestellte wegen Streikens vom Dienst suspendiert, hunderte von Küchen- und Serviceangestellten ausgesperrt

World Socialist Website 26.5.07:

The West Coast District Health Board (DHB) suspended seven medical laboratory workers this week for striking and the Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital suspended nine others. The suspensions at Middlemore range from two hours to four days. The Medical Laboratory Workers Union is seeking legal advice on the suspension notices. The laboratory workers were the first to begin stepped-up industrial action for better pay and working conditions. Their action follows a series of strikes by 1,200 laboratory workers after December last year. The scientists plan to carry out rolling stoppages, bans and other forms of action nationwide during the next two weeks.

Meanwhile companies who contract to DHBs have issued 700 hospital, service and food workers with lockout notices. Last week, the Service and Food Workers (SFWU) Union gave notice of 4,160 separate stopwork actions by 2,800 cleaning and catering staff and orderlies. The SFWU is seeking a multi-employer collective agreement to standardise pay around the country. One contractor, ISS, has issued a seven-day lockout notice effective May 31 while two others, Compass and OCS, issued one-day lockout notices. The companies employ two-thirds of the workers with the remainder directly employed by DHBs. The Medical Association this week demanded that Labour’s Health Minister Pete Hodgson intervene into the disputes and that funding be increased for health boards in order to lift health workers’ pay and improve staff retention. The minister refused.


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Portugal: Generalstreik gegen Regierungspolitik

World Socialist Website 1.6.07:

On May 30, the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers staged a 24-hour national strike to protest the economic reforms being introduced by the Socialist Party government of Prime Minister Jose Socrates. The federation represents around 800,000 workers. The second largest trade union federation refused to support the strike. The action had a widespread impact, affecting subway services in the capital Lisbon and ferry services into the city from across the River Tagus. Many public sector workers struck, including staff in government offices, refuse workers, postal staff, schoolteachers and health workers. Dozens of airline flights were also cancelled. The government is seeking to slash public spending and to make it easier to hire and fire workers. This is under conditions in which the unemployment rate is currently more than 8.4 percent, the highest rate in 21 years. Since the election of the government two years ago, welfare benefits have been reduced for state sector employees and the retirement age increased. Taxes have also been raised in an effort to increase revenue. Portugal’s budget deficit is the highest of the 13 countries using the euro. It also has the lowest rate of economic growth of any European country, at just 1.3 percent. The government has faced a series of workers’ protests and strikes over the last year in opposition to its policies, including a 100,000-strong demonstration in Lisbon last December.


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Kenia: PathologInnen streiken für höhere Einkommen und sicherere Arbeitsbedingungen

World Socialist Website 1.6.07:

Pathologists employed by the Kenyan government have gone on strike and camped outside the health ministry to demand that the permanent secretary listen to their grievances. These include lack of any promotions (meaning that some pathologists have stayed in the same post for more than 21 years), a hazardous working environment made worse by the lack of ventilation, and unduly low allowances to compensate for the risks faced in their work. Kenyan doctors and dentists get a risk allowance of Sh4,000 (US$60), but pathologists get only Sh2,000 (US$30). The strikers said they would refuse to do any forensic or DNA testing until these issues had been addressed, meaning police investigations will be affected.


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USA: Kindersterblichkeit steigt

World Socialist Website 3.5.07:

After declining for four decades, infant mortality rates are on the rise in the US. ... The national infant mortality rate—defined as the number of children dying within their first year of life per 1,000 live births—stood at 6.9 in 2003, the latest year for which data is available. Internationally, the US ranks at the bottom of developed countries on virtually all measures of child wellbeing, including mortality rates. ... Particularly in the South, where infant mortality rates have long exceeded the national average, deaths have increased significantly in recent years. In certain Southern counties, infant mortality rates are higher than 20 deaths per 1,000 live births—higher than those of Sri Lanka, Poland, and nearly 100 other countries. ... While data is not yet available for 2006, public health experts have pointed out that the factors driving the increase in 2005—including legislation aimed at cutting social services, the lack of health insurance, poor maternal health, and lack of public health infrastructure in economically depressed areas—have only intensified in the period since. ... Especially hard hit by the work requirements were single mothers in persistent poverty regions, including the Deep South, where transportation and decent paying jobs are scarce. ... Minority populations are especially vulnerable to infant death. Nationally in 2003, the black population suffered infant mortality rates nearly two-and-a-half times that of non-Hispanic whites, and black infants were more than four times as likely to die from complications of low birth weight.


Siehe auch


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Australien: Todesfälle in Pflegeheim

In Broughton Hall, Melbourne, einem Altenheim der Anglikanischen Kirche mit 80 Plätzen, starben im April 2007 fünf BewohnerInnen. Rund 20 weitere mussten ins Krankenhaus eingeliefert werden. Als Ursache wird eine Salmonellenvergiftung angegeben.

Lisa Fitzpatrick von der lokalen Berufsvereinigung der Pflegekräfte, Australian Nursing Federation Victoria, sagte, bei mehr qualifiziertem Personal in Broughton Hall hätten die Vergiftungserscheinungen eher erkannt und die Menschen rechtzeitig ins Krankenhaus gebracht werden können. Die Australian Nursing Federation Victoria bemüht sich seit einem Jahr um eine bessere Personalbesetzung in dem Heim. (The Age 22.4.07)

Christopher Pyne, der für Senioren zuständige Bundesminister sagte, in einer behördlichen Prüfung habe sich zuvor gezeigt, dass das Personal nicht in der Lage war, die Ursachen von Inkontinenz aufgrund von Gastroenteritis von anderen Ursachen zu unterscheiden. (The Age 17.4.07)

Laut World Socialist Webseite 22.5.07 waren die ersten Fälle von Gastroenteritis im April nicht gemeldet worden. Angehörige des fünften Todesopfers waren von der Heimleitung aufgefordert worden, ihren Verwandten nicht zu besuchen, da er Grippe habe. Als sie ihn dennoch besuchten, veranlassten sie sofort die Einlieferung ins Krankenhaus.

Nach der anonymen Aussage einer Mitarbeiterin im Heim, seien die Beschäftigten genötigt worden, Gastroenteritis-Sicherheits-Protokolle rückdatiert zu unterzeichnen. (news.com.au 18.4.07)


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Sri Lanka: Landesweiter Streik gegen Stechuhren in Krankenhäusern

World Socialist Webseite 19.5.07

Health workers in Colombo National Hospital and other general hospitals across the country struck on May 15 to protest the introduction of Finger Sensing Machines that register staff arrival and departure times. Apart from essential patient care services, all other activities at hospital ceased during the strike. Workers planned to stay out for two days but the strike ended at mid-day after the All Ceylon Health Workers’ Union (ACHWU) announced that it had reached a “settlement” with Health Ministry officials.


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Neuseeland: Nichtmedizinisches Personal streikt

World Socialist Web Site 19.5.07

New Zealand hospital cleaners, kitchen orderlies and security staff stopped work on May 10 and voted overwhelming in support of strike action. The more than 2,500 members of the Service and Food Workers Union (SFWU) voted by a 96 percent margin to reject a pay offer from the District Health Boards (DHBs) and contractors. The SFWU has given notice of 4,160 separate actions starting May 31, including a series of 55-minute rolling stoppages in hospitals nationwide. A SFWU spokesman said the decision followed a year of frustration in which DHBs and contracting companies employing two-thirds of the workforce did everything possible to avoid a national collective agreement and pay parity. The workers are the lowest paid in public hospitals. Hourly pay rates of just $13 are common and many only received raises through general increases in the minimum wage. The DHBs are offering a 2.1 percent average increase.


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Griechenland: Nationale Arbeitsniederlegung zur Sicherung der Renten

Gegen die Freigabe der staatlichen Rentenfonds für Finanzspekulationen legten am 14. Mai in Griechenland mehrere Tausend Beschäftigte die Arbeit nieder. In öffentlichen Krankenhäusern wurde ein Notdienst aufrecht erhalten. (ARD Tagesschau 15.5.07, World Socialist Web Site 18.5.07)

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Polen: ÄrztInnen öffentlicher Krankenhäuser streiken für höhere Gehälter

World Socialist Web Site 18.5.07:

On May 15, Polish doctors began strike actions at more than 250 public hospitals and clinics to demand increases in pay. The doctors are calling for a minimum monthly salary of about US$1,800. Emergency wards were providing medical treatment only in cases where a patient’s life was in danger. The government has rejected the pay demands, stating that doctors have already received a 30 percent increase in their monthly salaries in the 2007 state budget. The doctors have threatened an open-ended period of strike action if their demands are not met. They warned that this could lead to a shortage of medical staff, as doctors and nurses would have little choice but to leave the country to find better-paying jobs abroad.


World Socialist Website 25.5.07:

On May 21, doctors in Poland began an indefinite strike to demand pay increases and more funding for the public health system. According to the BBC, doctors at about a third of Poland’s 600 public hospitals are taking part in the strike and providing emergency services only. Doctors are seeking a 100 percent pay increase. The government of Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski has rejected the pay demand, stating that the measure would cost US$3.9 billion and would “break public finances.” Kaczynski told a news conference, “Meeting these demands would mean an absolute erosion of the public finance plans.” In Poland general practitioners earn as little as US$400 a month and more than 5 percent of them have left the country to work abroad since Poland joined the European Union three years ago. Many GPs are forced to work night shifts or to take on private clients in order to earn enough money to live on. This is despite doctors winning a 30 percent pay increase last year. The All-Poland Doctors’ Union organised the strike and warned that it would call on doctors at another 100 hospitals to come out if an agreement was not reached soon. The union has not called the strike on the basis of support for a publicly funded health service, but for measures to privatise the health service and the introduction of fees for some services.
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Tschad: Generalstreik im öffentlichen Dienst

World Socialist Web Site 18.5.07:

Public sector workers in Chad have been involved in a general strike for more than two weeks. They are demanding substantial pay increases across the board in pensions and indemnity payments, which according to Reuters news agency would be equivalent to a 300 percent rise in salaries. The government is offering 10 percent.
Montanan Ndinaromtan, a union leader and lab technician at the main hospital in N’Djamena, capital city of Chad, told Reuters, “When you look at people’s faces in this country, they are etched with misery. We don’t have even the minimum of things a human being can expect.... Our [monthly] salaries are gone in one week. We cannot afford to feed our children, to educate them or even to build a one-room house.” Chad is one of the poorest countries in the world, ranked 171 out of 177 by the United Nations. However, the discovery of oil several years ago has resulted in production of approximately 160,000 barrels of oil a day. The unions claim that this new oil wealth is not benefiting the working population. ...
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Norwegen: Nationale Arbeitsniederlegung zur Sicherung der Renten

World Socialist Web Site 11.5.07:

On May 9 an estimated 40,000 members of the Norwegian trade union federation staged a two-hour strike in opposition to the government’s pension reforms. Last month the Norwegian Parliament agreed to legislation that cuts government’s pension costs and raises the national retirement age to 67. At present many workers have pension clauses built into their retirement agreements allowing them to receive pensions from 62. The federation is demanding that the current contractual pension system be retained. Prior to the strike the Norwegian Employers’ Confederation stated that the strike was illegal. During the strike buses, tram services and public transport ground to a halt for several hours in the main cities, including the capital Oslo. In smaller towns a series of public rallies were held. Some 160 trade unions participated in the action with many strikers carrying placards with slogans such as “Stop the pension robbery.”


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Ghana: Streikende eines Krankenhauses unter Druck gesetzt

World Socialist Website 4.5.07:

Health workers in Accra, capital of Ghana, are on indefinite strike to demand a pay rise that will make up for several years of falling behind other workers with similar qualifications. The head of the Health Workers’ Group told the BBC that while minimal service was being provided at present, doctors and nurses throughout Ghana would join the strike unless their demands were met by May 4. He said negotiations had been going on for 15 months without any progress.
The BBC also reported a separate dispute at the Korle-Bu teaching hospital—the largest in Ghana—in which more than 90 doctors were sacked for going on strike. The doctors had graduated only recently, and would have been on a correspondingly low rate of pay.


World Socialist Web Site 11.5.07:

Health workers at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), who have been on strike since April 30, have been threatened by the hospital’s chief executive officer. According to Myjoyonline, he has instructed unit heads and administrators to submit a list at the end of each day of “absentee workers” who are perceived to be on strike, so that “necessary action” can be taken. The strikers are members of the Health Workers Group (HWG), as are many of the administrators. The HWG has issued a statement condemning the directive and calling on its members to “remain steadfast in pursuing a legal cause.” It stressed that under Ghanaian labor law, “the termination of a worker’s employment becomes unfair if the only reason for the termination of employment is that the worker refused or intends to refuse to work to enable him or her to participate in a lawful strike action.” The National Labor Commission (NLC) has designated the strike as illegal and called for it to be ended immediately. At the same time it called on the Ministry of Health, as the strikers’ ultimate employers, to state their position on the strikers’ grievance. The strike action was in protest against the disparity between the pay of doctors and other health workers.
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April 2007

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Irland: KrankenpflegerInnen und Hebammen arbeiten "nach Vorschrift" für 10% höhere Gehälter und 35-Stunden Woche

World Socialist Website 13.4.07:

Nurses in the Republic of Ireland staged a one-hour strike on April 11 in a dispute over pay and conditions. The 40,000 nurses involved are members of the Irish Nurses Organisation and the Psychiatric Nurses’ Association. Picket lines were set up at hospitals that included St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin, South Tipperary General Hospital in Clonmenl and the South Tipperary Mental Health services. Nurses are calling for a 10 percent pay increase and a shorter working week as a step towards the implementation of a 35 hour week, to bring them into line with other healthcare professionals. A representative of the union said, “Nurses are one of the lowest paid groups of employees in the health service. They provide a comprehensive and professional service, for which they require a third level qualification but yet are among the lowest paid. The majority of healthcare professionals work a 35-hour week and the same should apply to the nursing profession.” The nurses have been involved in a work to rule since the beginning of April, following the breakdown of talks between the trade unions and Health Service Executive management. Nurses have refused to undertake administrative duties, answer telephones or attend meetings. This week the unions stated that further strikes may take place pending the resolution of the dispute.


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Südafrika: 38 Pflegekräfte nach illegalisiertem Streik gefeuert

World Socialist Website 20.4.07:

The KwaZulu-Natal health department has confirmed the firing of 38 nurses in the South African province, who participated in a 10-day strike in February 2007 despite a labour tribunal recommending that they keep their jobs. The strike, which was organised by the KZN nurses committee, was not supported by the official trade unions. It involved over 1,000 enrolled nurses from major hospitals all over the province who were demanding payment of rural and scarce-skills allowances backdated to July 2003. The nurses claim that similar allowances are already paid in other provinces like the Eastern Cape. The health authority declared that the strike was illegal and gave 728 nurses a 12-hour ultimatum to return to work or be sacked. The ultimatum was ignored. Sizwe Kupelo, spokesperson for the Eastern Cape health department, said in February that they had warned hospital managers in the province not to employ nurses who were involved in the strike. He added that the nurses had no chance of being appointed in other provinces. “We will not create a precedent where people will embark on an illegal action in [one] province and then, when they are to face the consequences, they run to another province.” In February, the health department and trade unions set up a tribunal consisting of six lawyers to deal with the sacked nurses individually. It cleared 323 nurses who had been suspended; another 673 nurses were served with written warnings. According to the South African Broadcasting Corporation, the tribunal recommended that the final 38 nurses should also keep their jobs, but the health department dismissed the findings and confirmed the sackings.


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Australien: Reinigungs-, Küchen- und Pflegekräfte streiken für mehr Personal

World Socialist Website 21.4.07:

Cleaners, caterers and orderlies at Port Hedland Regional Hospital, in Western Australia, went on strike on April 16 and April 18 over staff shortages. For months, the workers have been asking management to fill vacancies and employ casuals to address the problem of increased workloads. The hospital is the main emergency medical centre in the Pilbara mining region. A spokesperson for the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union, which covers the hospital workers, said there was “a pretty serious understaffing issue going on at Port Hedland hospital” and “we think there’s been some pretty serious mismanagement”. A management spokesman said the hospital was “dealing with the concerns about rostering and staff shortages”. But nothing has been done, except to hold a series of meetings and discussions that failed to resolve the issue.


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Neuseeland: Arbeitsniederlegungen in verschiedenen Bereichen - Medizinische Hilfskräfte setzen bis zu 20% höhere Gehälter durch

World Socialist Website 21.4.07:

Radiographers at seven New Zealand district health boards (DHBs) began a series of work bans on April 16. Overnight bans on radiographic work, including x-rays, CT and MRI scans and ultrasound, were placed in Southland, Rotorua, Taupo, Tauranga, Whakatane and Opotiki hospitals, while Hutt Valley radiographers walked out on April 17 for 4 days. The bans are expected to continue into next month. The industrial action is part of a campaign to gain pay parity. The radiographers receive 25 percent less than their colleagues working for other DHBs but employers say the increase needed to establish parity is “unaffordable” and have offered only 12 percent. The Association of Professionals and Executive Employees (Apex), representing 80 percent of radiographers, also issued notice it will begin one-hour rolling strikes in Canterbury early next month in addition to work bans and weekend strikes. Following talks this week, Apex also threatened a nationwide strike, claiming that a new employer proposal for a national agreement was an attempt to drag down working conditions for radiographers across the board.

Next week, medical laboratory scientists with all DHBs and the Blood Service will walk off the job for two days, the second strike within three weeks. Doctors, nurses and hospital food and service workers are making little headway in pay and conditions negotiations and may take industrial action.

Meanwhile, 1,200 health support workers employed by Healthcare NZ have agreed on a settlement after lengthy negotiations and industrial action. The company, which is contracted to provide home support and residential disability support services, is funded by DHBs, Accident Compensation and the Ministry of Health. The settlement includes pay increases of up to 20 percent.

World Socialist Website 28.4.07:

Nationwide industrial action by radiographers left hospitals in the Southland, Bay of Plenty and Rotorua District Health Boards (DHBs) without x-rays services last weekend. In Canterbury, radiographers also refused to assist with ultrasound services. The industrial action began earlier in the week and is set to continue until May 14. Around 200 radiographers from seven of the country’s 21 DHBs are seeking pay increases of 20 percent to bring their pay to a comparable level with other areas. Employers have offered just 12 percent.

Laboratory workers, who struck for two days earlier this month, went on strike again on March 24 and 26. The Medical Laboratory Workers Union, with about 1,200 members working at 15 of the country’s DHBs, the New Zealand Blood Service, Southern Community Laboratories and Medlab South, has spent 13 months in negotiations. A union spokesman said the DHBs had made a 2.55 percent per annum pay offer, but had demanded “savage” clawbacks on hours of work and to employment protection.

Meanwhile, hospital service and food workers have indicated they may strike if pay talks fail this week. Members of the Service and Food Workers Union want a 30 percent increase.


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Bolivien: Arbeitsniederlegung in öffentlichen Krankenhäusern für höhere Gehälter, mehr Krankenhäuser und mehr Personal

World Socialist Website 1.5.07:

On April 26 public health workers walked off their jobs in Bolivian public hospitals. The strike affects the cities of La Paz, El Alto, Cochabamba, Oruro and Santa Cruz. The strikers are demanding that the government of President Evo Morales offer more than the six percent wage increase currently on the negotiating table. The government offer covers clerical personnel, paramedics, and public health nurses across Bolivia. In addition to their wage demands, the strikers call for the building of more hospitals and the hiring of 5,000 more public health workers. A government spokesman charged the strikers with “jeopardizing the health of poor people.”


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Großbritannien: Jährlich 5.000 Todesfälle durch Infektionen in Krankenhäusern

Die britische Gewerkschaft UNISON schätzt, dass jährlich rund 5.000 Menschen in Krankenhäusern an dort erworbenen Infektionen sterben. Hauptverantwortlich dafür ist laut UNISON die Auslagerung und Privatisierung von Reinigungsdiensten. Siehe dazu UNISON Fact-sheet on Healthcare Acquired Infections, April 2007.

Siehe auch


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Schweden: Umgang mit Rationierungen

Im Deutschen Ärzteblatt vom 4. April 2007 schreibt Uwe K. Preusker über den Umgang mit als unvermeidlich angesehenen Rationierungen der Gesundheitsversorgung in skandinavischen Ländern, insbesondere Schweden.

Grob zusammengefasst: Im Jahr 1992 wurde in Schweden eine parlamentarische Priorisierungskommission gegründet, bestehend aus VertreterInnen der fünf größten Parteien im schwedischen Reichstag. Die Arbeit dieses Ausschusses mündete 1997 in einen Beschluss des schwedischen Reichstages, in dem die drei Grundprinzipien der Priorisierung festgelegt wurden: das Prinzip der Menschenwürde, das Bedarfs- beziehungsweise Solidaritätsprinzip sowie das Prinzip der Kosteneffektivität. Zur Konkretisierung der drei ethischen Grundprinzipien und der darauf aufbauenden Gesetzesergänzungen verabschiedete der schwedische Reichstag auch eine Priorisierungsordnung, die die Grundlage für die konkrete Priorisierungsarbeit der verschiedenen Ebenen, Gremien und auch im konkreten Einzelfall ist. Diese Ordnung umfasst insgesamt vier Gruppen, wobei die erste Gruppe die höchste Priorität hat:


Priorisierungsgruppe 1
  • Versorgung lebensbedrohlicher akuter Krankheiten
  • Versorgung solcher Krankheiten, die ohne Behandlung zu dauerhafter Invalidisierung oder zu vorzeitigem Tod führen
  • Versorgung schwerer chronischer Krankheiten
  • Palliative (lindernde) Versorgung und Versorgung in der Endphase des Lebens
  • Versorgung von Menschen mit herabgesetzter Autonomie
Priorisierungsgruppe 2
  • Prävention
  • Rehabilitation
Priorisierungsgruppe 3
  • Versorgung weniger schwerer akuter und chronischer Erkrankungen
Priorisierungsgruppe 4
  • Versorgung aus anderen Gründen als Krankheit oder Schaden

Innerahlb der Priorisierungsgruppe 1 hat die Versorgung lebensbedrohlicher akuter Erkrankungen Vorrang; die übrigen Teilgruppen dagegen haben den gleichen Rang. Die zweite und dritte Priorisierungsgruppe sollen in abnehmender Reihenfolge öffentlich finanzierte Ressourcen erhalten. Für die vierte Priorisierungsgruppe dagegen stehen in der Regel keine öffentlichen Gelder zur Verfügung. Die Betroffenen müssen für ihre Leistungen selbst bezahlen.


Siehe auch

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März 2007

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Südkorea: 60.000 medizinische AssistentInnen, ÄrztInnen und ZahnärztInnen protestieren gegen Gesundheitsgesetzgebung

World Socialist Website 24.3.07:

Tens of thousands of doctors, dentists and nursing assistants in South Korea went on strike on March 21 over revisions to the national medical law. More than 60,000 participated in a rally at the government complex in Gwacheon. The strike closed some 40,000 medical and dental clinics, 23,000 Western medical clinics, 9,000 Oriental medical clinics and 11,000 dental clinics. About 5,000 police were dispatched to the protests, which were jointly organised by the Korean Medical Association (KMA), the Korean Dental Association, the Association of Korean Oriental Medicine and the Korean Licensed Practical Nurses Association. A KMA spokesman said the revisions would “severely threaten public health, infringe on the rights of doctors and cause massive increases in medical expenses”. Doctors warned of further action if the government went ahead with the legislation but the Health Ministry has said it would not reverse the decision. If further industrial action occurs, the government has threatened to order doctors to return to work and to “punish” anyone defying the directive. The protests are the first major demonstrations by the medical community since 2002.


Siehe auch


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Argentinien: Krankenhausangestellte streiken für höhere Gehälter, Festanstellung und mehr Personal

World Socialist Website 27.3.07:

Despite a wage offer from the Felipe Solá, governor of Buenos Aires, Argentina’s wealthiest province, the province’s public workers carried out a 72-hour strike last Wednesday. On Wednesday, public health workers also went on strike for 72 hours. Court employees indicated that they are also considering strike action. The workers are demanding a new wage scale with a minimum monthly salary of 2,400 pesos (US$850) with a cost-of-living adjustment tied to the nation’s cost-of-living index. The public health professionals of Buenos Aires province carried out their fifth strike this year. It involved employees at outpatient clinics in 77 provincial hospitals. The union representing professional hospital employees is demanding a starting wage of 2,500 pesos (US$860), the hiring of 1,500 new employees and that temporary employees be made permanent. In addition, they are demanding higher budgetary allotments and more personnel targeted to hospitals in the industrial suburbs of the city of Buenos Aires. Strike leaders insist that there is an urgent health crisis in the province and that emergency measures must be taken.


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Sri Lanka: Hungerstreik für Festanstellung im Krankenhaus

World Socialist Website 7.4.07:

An indefinite strike by 15 casual health workers at the Embilipitiya Hospital in southern Sri Lanka entered its fifth day on March 30. The workers have been employed at the hospital for one and half years but management refuses to make them permanent staff. Three workers have climbed to the top of a water tank at the hospital and are holding a hunger strike while others continue a similar action in the hospital premises. At least three of the fasting workers were admitted to hospital after their condition worsened.


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USA: Zehntausende Kinder aus öffentlicher Gesundheitsversorgung "entfernt"

Im Juli 2006 wurde in den USA ein Bundesgesetz verabschiedet, das allen EmpfängerInnen staatlicher Gesundheitsleistungen (Medicaid) vorschreibt, ihre Identität und Staatsbürgerschaft nachzuweisen, bevor sie weiter Gesundheitsleistungen erhalten. Betroffen sind rund 50 Millionen Menschen. Das Gesetz sollte dazu dienen, Nicht-StaatsbürgerInnen die medizinische Versorgung über Medicaid zu entziehen. Es wurde geschätzt, dass dadurch vom 338 Milliarden Dollor Jahresbudget, das Medicaid umfasst, 220 Millionen Dollar über 5 Jahre eingespart werden können.

Das Gesetz führte dazu, dass vor allem Kinder, die in den USA geboren sind und damit StaatsbürgerInnen, keine medizinische Versorgung über Medicaid mehr erhalten. Hauptsächliche Gründe hierfür sind:

  • die Eltern schaffen es nicht, die nötigen Papiere beizubringen (Sprachprobleme; soziale Probleme; zwar kann die Staatsbürgerschaft nachgewiesen werden, aber nicht die Identität oder umgekehrt)
  • die zuständigen Behörden/Einrichtungen sind mit dem Verwaltungsaufwand überlastet (die Eltern laufen an besetzten Telofonen auf und verpassen dadurch Nachweistermine; Berechtigungsnachweise werden nicht rechtzeitig ausgestellt).


Die Ausmaße der Folgen des Gesetzes können nur geschätzt werden, weil bei den zuständigen Behörden/Einrichtungen teilweise Registrierungen vorliegen können, hinter denen keine echten Menschen stehen.

  • Florida: 63.000 Kinder in den letzten sechs Monaten aus Medicaid entfernt
  • Iowa: 5.700 Menschen im letzten Halbjahr 2006 aus Medicaid entfernt
  • Louisiana: 7.500 Kinder von September bis Oktober 2006 aus Medicaid entfernt
  • Ohio: 39.000 Menschen seit Juli 2006 (?) aus Medicaid entfernt
  • New Mexico: 10.000 Menschen seit Januar 2007 aus Medicaid entfernt
  • Virginia: 13.300 Kinder seit Juli 2006 aus Medicaid entfernt
  • Georgia: rund 100.000 Kinder seit Juli 2006 aus Medicaid entfernt
  • Wisconsin: 14.000 Menschen zwischen August und Dezember 2006 aus Medicaid entfernt
  • Kansas: 20.000 Menschen, davon 75% Kinder, seit Juli 2006 aus Medicaid entfernt


Über die Folgen wird berichtet:

  • Kinder, die normalerweise in einer Arztpraxis hätten behandelt werden können, werden als Notfälle in Krankenhäuser eingeliefert
  • Entbindungen werden zwar durchgeführt, Neugeborenen dann aber die Behandlung verweigert, weil die Mutter ihre (eigene) Identität nicht nachweisen kann
  • Impfungen werden nicht durchgeführt
  • chronisch kranke Kinder, z.B. AsthmatikerInnen, erhalten notwendige Medikamente nicht mehr


Kommentare zum Gesetz:

  • Kevin Concannon (Iowa Department of Human Services):
    “Der größte negative Effekt dieser Regelung betrifft Menschen, die amerikanische Staatsbürger sind.”
    New York Times 12.3.07)
  • Cindi Jones (Direktorin des Medicaid-Programms Virginia):
    “Das Bundesgesetz schloss die Tür zur Registrierung von Menschen über Telefon und Internet, ein ganzes Jahr Fortschritt in der Versorgung von Kindern ist zunichte gemacht.”
    (New York Times 11.3.07)
  • Martin Michaels (Vorstand in der American Academy of Pediatrics):
    “Viele dieser Kinder haben Immunisierungen und Vorsorgeuntersuchungen verpasst. Sie wurden in Krankenhäuser und Intensivstationen gebracht für Zustände, die normalerweise in einer Arztpraxis behandelt worden wären.”
    (New York Times 12.3.07)
  • Chris Gregoire (Gouverneur von Washington, Demokraten):
    “Wie in aller Welt kann eine Regierung BürgerInnen der Vereinigten Staaten diskriminieren, nur weil deren Eltern etwas sind oder nicht sind?”
    (courtTVnews 6.3.07)
  • Jennine Morrone (Sozialarbeiterin in Kansas):
    “Ich rate den Menschen, die Resistrierungsstelle anzurufen und sie kommen nicht durch. Die Leitung ist besetzt, sie ist immer besetzt. ... Es kann zwei Monate dauern, bevor sie dir sagen, dass du nicht alles eingesandt hast, das du einsenden solltest”.
    (Pressemitteilung Kansas Health Insititute 12.3.07)
  • Robert Harder (ehemaliger Mitarbeiter der Medicaid Behörde Kansas):
    “Was bei all dem leicht übersehen wird, ist, dass die Registrierungsstelle privatisiert wurde und keine staatliche Behörde, sie wird von Maximus, einem privaten Kontraktor betrieben. Ich bi sicher, das sind gute Leute, und ich bin sicher, sie tun alles, was sie können. Aber wenn die Registrierungsstelle Teil einer staatlichen Behörde wäre, dann würde dies auf keinen Fall toleriert ... Privatisierung öffnet die Tür, um das eigene Versagen weiter zu geben [buck-passing].”
    (Pressemitteilung Kansas Health Insititute 12.3.07)


Siehe auch

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Irland: Krankenschwestern demonstrieren für 35-Stunden Woche

World Socialist Web Site 16.3.07:

The Irish Independent reported March 13 that nurses held their first meeting with the government’s industrial relations arbiter, the National Implementation Body (NIB), over their postponed national strike. Up to 40,000 members of the Irish Nurses Organisation and the Psychiatric Nurses Organisation have mounted lunchtime demonstrations in recent weeks in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick. They are demanding a 35-hour week, increased pay and a bonus for working in Dublin to cover higher living costs in the capital.

Siehe auch

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Großbritannien: Landesweite Demonstrationen zum Schutz des öffentlichen Gesundheitssystems und gegen Privatisierungen

World Socialist Web Site 9.3.07:

On March 3 thousands of health workers protested in many cities and towns in the UK to oppose cuts in jobs and services and the impact of private sector involvement on the National Health Service. The protests were also in opposition to below-inflation pay increases. The demonstrations were called as part of a day of action by NHS Together, an alliance of trade unions, professional associations and other staff organisations. The Unison trade union is one of the central organisations involved. Demonstrations were held in London, Manchester, Preston, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Bristol, Winchester, Sunderland, Cambridge, Belfast and other towns and cities.

Siehe auch

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Großbritannien: "Behinderte" protestieren gegen geplante Fabrikschließungen

World Socialist Web Site 9.3.07:

On March 3, disabled workers employed by Remploy held a march and rally in Cardiff, Wales, to protest plans to close their factories. Some 300 people marched through the city centre to draw attention to a government review of Remploy factories. Remploy is the largest employer of disabled workers in Britain, with 5,000 disabled staff employed at 83 sites across the UK, including 12 factories in Wales. It is currently reviewing its operations following a government directive to develop a modernisation plan. ... Last week, Remploy said of the plans, “The core issue is that each job in our factories costs an average of £19,000 a year. For the same money, we can find four jobs for disabled people in mainstream employment.”
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Türkei: Demonstrationen zum Schutz des öffentlichen Gesundheitssystems und gegen Privatisierungen

World Socialist Web Site 9.3.07:

Health Workers in Turkey began a series of demonstrations and protests this week to oppose cuts in the health services and the privatisation of health care. According the BIA News Centre, several organisations took part in demonstrations on March 1. These are the Emine OZCAN BIA (Istanbul), Turkey’s Physicians Association (TTB), Health and Social Services Workers Union (SES), Turkey’s Association of Dentists (TDB), Revolutionary Health Workers Union (Dev Saglik Is) and Istanbul Chamber of Pharmacists (IEO).

Protesters demanded that the government reverse plans to close district clinics. Other demands are that a pilot application of family medicine should cover all the country, the opening of new District clinics and stronger employment rights for newly qualified medical staff.

The chairman of Turkey’s Physicians Association said this week, “We constantly stated our objection to government’s plans to transform the health sector. This is a World Bank inflicted policy which aims at introducing market forces into the sector, disregarding the social aspect of the services.”

Further demonstrations will be held throughout March, including a partial strike on March 14.

Siehe auch

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Februar 2007

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Costa Rica: Streiks gegen Einkommenskürzungen

World Socialist Web Site 20.2.07:

The union that represents employees at the Costa Rican Social Security Fund confirmed last week that it will launch a strike this week against a 15 percent wage cut. Seven thousand nurses’ aids employed by the Fund will have their monthly pay package cut by $60 to $135, depending on the tasks the employees carry out. Since 1991, the nurses’ aids benefited from a wage boost designed as partial compensation in lieu of a formal wage increase. The benefit has now been cancelled.
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Argentinien: Streik für höheres Krankenhausbudget

World Socialist Web Site 20.2.07:

Workers and resident doctors at the Clínicas Hospital in Buenos Aires went on strike last Thursday, demanding an “urgent budget increase” for the hospital. The strike is a continuation of a walkout that took place in November 2006. That job action was supposedly settled when the government allocated 7 million pesos and created a “crisis commission” to look into the hospital’s problems while a new budget was negotiated with the health workers. Those negotiations failed. The hospital staff rejected a 183 million peso ($60 million) draft budget.

The strikers are demanding a budget of twice that size, which they consider the minimum for the hospital to operate well. Union spokespersons indicated that the hospital ran out of many critical supplies three weeks ago. Last week, at rallies in downtown Buenos Aires, the strikers insisted on the urgency of their demands. The strike has been declared of indefinite duration.

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Java: Muslimische Krankenschwestern streiken gegen Kopftuch-Verbot und für Religionsfreiheit

World Socialist Web Site 17.2.07:

Around 28 nurses at the privately run Kebonjati Hospital in Bandung, West Java rallied on February 12 to demand an end to a ban on Muslim nurses wearing headscarves (jilbabs) at work.

Nurse Yanti Sumiyanti said: “As soon as we arrive here (at the hospital) we are forced to take off our headscarves and serve the patients using nurse’s uniforms as required by the management.” Yanti represented the nurses at a meeting with management to discuss the issue. Head of the Bandung police detective unit also attended the meeting in an attempt to intimidate the nurses.

Nurses’ calls on management to lift the ban over the past two years have been continuously rejected on the grounds that the hospital does not represent any particular religion. A spokesman for the nurses said that management should uphold the right of Muslim women to wear headscarves because it was guaranteed in the country’s constitution. Following the protest, three management representatives signed a letter in an individual capacity supporting the nurses’ demand.

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USA (Nevada): Aussperrung von 800 Krankenschwestern endet mit Kompromiss

World Socialist Web Site 13.2.07:

Some 800 nurses at two hospitals in Clark County, Nevada, voted unanimously February 7 to accept a new contract ending a lockout that started in December. The new three-year agreement with Valley Health System provides bottom-line wage increases of 5 percent in the first year, followed by 3 percent in the subsequent two years. According to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents the locked-out nurses, the agreement brings salaries for Valley Health System licensed practical nurses into line with LPNs at other hospitals. Valley Health System is a subsidiary of Universal Health Services, Inc. of Pennsylvania, which ranks as the third-largest hospital management company in the United States.
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USA (San Diego): Demonstration für 21-29% mehr Gehalt

World Socialist Web Site 13.2.07:

Paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) held protests February 5 in front of the San Diego headquarters of their employer, American Medical Response (AMR), to demand higher pay and better healthcare benefits. Workers charge that they are the lowest-paid paramedics and EMTs in San Diego County and that, due to the high cost of living in the area, some 70 percent of their members qualify for Section 8 low-income housing.

The contract covering the 250 workers in San Diego County expired in November. Workers charge that AMR has offered them a lower-quality healthcare package at a higher cost. Workers are demanding a 21 to 29 percent wage increase over five years along with better 401(k) offers.

The medical workers are currently represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), but are considering seeking other representation. AMR is the largest private ambulance service in the United States.

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Kanada (Quebec): Streiks in Tageskliniken für Einstellung qualifizierten Personals

World Socialist Web Site 13.2.07:

Workers at 25 day care centers in Montreal and nearby Laval staged a one-day strike on Monday to protest the hiring of educational assistants instead of more full-time staff. The 500 striking workers are represented by Syndicat des travailleuses(eurs) des centres de la petite enfance de Montréal et Laval (STCPEML). The proposed new part-time hires would earn C$5 an hour less than full-time staff, an arrangement the union says threatens job security. In addition the union says its members are still waiting to receive a 2 percent wage increased promised almost a year ago.


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Südkorea: KrankenhausärztInnen protestieren gegen gesetzliche Ausweitung des Aufgabenbereichs weniger qualifizierten Personals

World Socialist Web Site 10.2.07:

Around 4,500 doctors rallied on January 7 outside a government complex in Gwacheon, in South Korea’s Gyeonggi province to demand the Health Ministry withdraw a revision of laws governing the medical service sector. A spokesperson for the Seoul Medical Association claimed that the strike resulted in the closure of 2,000 out of 6,500 clinics in Seoul and 400 out of 1,200 clinics in Incheon. The doctor’s claim that new laws would give lesser-trained medical staff a broader role in examining patients with less serious ailments and does not specifically spell out doctors’ role in prescribing medication.
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Sri Lanka: Solidaritätsstreik für Gewerkschafter, der im Hungerstreik ist

World Socialist Web Site 10.2.07:

Auxiliary staff at Nagoda Base Hospital in the Kalutara district in the country’s Western Province went on strike from February 5 over the unwarranted transfer of a union activist. The worker in question is currently on a hunger strike in the hospital premises. The strikers believe he is being victimised and are threatening to spread the strike to other hospitals if the transfer is not cancelled.
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Ungarn: Krankenhauspersonal demonstriert für Klinik-Erhalt

World Socialist Web Site 9.2.07:

On January 25, staff employed at three hospitals serving employees of the Hungarian State Railways (MÁV) protested at the Health Ministry in Budapest against plans to close or merge them. The health ministry has proposed to close a hospital in Szolnok and another in the capital Budapest, and plans for cutbacks at a third in the capital. The government said it may also merge some of the MÁV hospitals.

Protesters threatened to take strike action and demanded that the government reverse its decision. Some of the demonstrators held placards stating, “Our fathers’ money built the hospital—hands off.” The hospitals had been originally built partly from funds collected by MÁV staff, and rail workers still finance the hospitals through deductions from their salaries.

On February 1, the Railway Workers’ Union threatened to stage a one-day strike the following day to protest the closures. Following negotiations with the government, the union postponed the strike until February 25, pending an agreement with the health ministry.

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Ungarn: 2-stündiger Generalstreik im öffentlichen Dienst geplant

World Socialist Web Site 9.2.07:

Last week the Hungarian Federation of Civil Servants’ Unions called a two-hour strike for February 21 over pay. The Federation of Civil Servants’ Unions represents 800,000 public sector workers.

According to the Budapest Times, the union is demanding a pay increase of least 6.75 percent. The government of Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány is offering a deal worth 5.5 percent, but this includes money due from last year.

The government is currently implementing a restructuring of the welfare system, which includes the redundancies of thousands of public sector employees. The prime minister has said that the government expects real wages to fall by as much as 4 percent this year as a result of the reforms.

Hungary has the largest budget deficit in the European Union, at around 10 percent. To meet the criteria for the adoption of the euro currency by 2009, the deficit has to be cut to 3 percent. The leader of the Federation of Civil Servants’ Unions, Endre Szabó, stated that the organisation accepted the government’s need to restructure the public sector, but that it would not cooperate with it until a wage deal was reached.


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Großbritannien (Manchester): Streik für kommunale Gesundheitsversorgung

World Socialist Web Site 9.2.07:

Mental health workers in Manchester, England, took strike action on January 31 and February 7 to protest cuts in community mental health teams. Some 250 staff struck following a ballot showing 91.6 percent in favour of action. The workers are members of the Unison trade union and picketed sites in Manchester city centre, Chorlton, Crumpsall and Harpurhey during the action.

Community nurses, occupational therapists and team secretaries took part. The cuts being implemented by the Manchester Mental Health & Social Care Trust include a reduction in staffing numbers in community mental health teams and a reduction in services. The trust is also carrying out a job freeze on all nursing posts, which will result in 33 fewer nursing posts and 8 fewer occupational therapists posts. Workers also fear compulsory redundancies and possible privatisation of four community teams. The trust also plans the closure of one of the south Manchester old-age day centres and the day support team.


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Südafrika: 728 Krankenschwestern wegen illegalisierten Streikens gefeuert

World Socialist Web Site 9.2.07:

The Department of health in KwaZulu-Natal sacked about 728 nurses on Friday for taking part in a 10-day illegal strike. They had demanded the payment of rural and scarce skills allowances backdated to July 2003.

Leon Mbangwa, the provincial health department spokesperson, said the nurses’ unions were not supporting the strike as the nurses’ grievances were being dealt with by the Public Services Central Bargaining Council. The nurses had been “misled” by a KwaZulu-Natal nurses’ committee, he claimed. “We cannot continue to employ and pay workers who have shown no compassion and commitment to principle of Batho Pele [The South African Government’s slogan of putting people first],” said Mr. Mbangwa.


Siehe auch

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Philippinen: Nierenverkäufe aus Geldnot

LabourNet Newsletter 9.2.07:

Der (arme) Mensch als Ware: 3.000 Nieren aus einem Slum...

Die Universität der Philippinen hat jüngst eine Studie veröffentlicht, die unter anderem die Aussage beinhaltet, dass in einem einzigen Slum der Hauptstadt Manila sage und schreibe 3.000 Menschen je eine ihrer Nieren verkauft haben - Preise ab 1.400 Dollar. Das Gesundheitsministerium sorgt sich um den wachsenden Handel, der offensichtlich auch von Ärzten und Krankenhäusern betrieben wird und schon zum Auftauchen entsprechender Maklerfirmen geführt hat (das einzige, was daran verboten ist). Viele werden ins Ausland verkauft - in Japan warten 10.000 Menschen auf eine Niere...
Der (englische) Bericht "RP admits ‘rampant’ traffic in human organs" von Katrice R. Jalbuena am 8. Februar 2007 bei der "Manila Times"

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Frankreich: Streiks im öffentlichen Dienst

LaborNet 9.2.07:

Das Ministerium für den öffentlichen Dienst (dessen Angaben über Streikbeteiligungsquoten oft restriktiv ausfallen) erklärte am Nachmittag [8.2.07], 20,3 Prozent der Staatsbediensteten seien nicht zur Arbeit erschienen. Dieser Anteil lag etwas höher als beim letzten Aktionstag der öffentlich Bediensteten im Februar 2006, bei dem 18,2 Prozent an Streiks und Arbeitsniederlegungen in den öffentlichen Diensten oder im Staatsdienst teilnahmen" - so beginnt der Artikel "Mindestens jede/r fünfte französische Staatsbedienstete war am gestrigen Donnerstag im Ausstand" von Bernard Schmid vom 9. Februar 2007. ...

Anlass für den gestrigen Streik- und Aktionstag waren einerseits die Frage der Kaufkraft, andererseits die über mehreren öffentlichen Diensten (direkt oder indirekt) schwebenden Privatisierungsdrohungen oder die finanzielle Austrocknung durch die öffentliche Hand. ...


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USA (Pennsylvania): Streik beim Roten Kreuz erfolglos beendet

Word Socialist Web Site 6.2.07:

American Red Cross workers in Johnstown, Pennsylvania returned to work January 31 without a contract. Red Cross officials claimed their proposed new contract offered more wages, vacation and holiday time and capped health insurance premiums at 20 percent. However, workers said the new offer contained the possibility of large deductibles that could undermine any gains. The 160 workers, members of Communications Workers of America, represent a fraction of the 700 workers employed by the Red Cross’s Greater Alleghenies Blood Services Region, which services blood supplies for all of southwestern Pennsylvania and portions of Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia.


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Indonesien: Ambulanzpersonal demonstriert für Festanstellung

Word Socialist Web Site 3.2.07:

Over 200 members of the Emergency Ambulance 118 Workers Union rallied on January 18 at the Hotel Indonesia to demand that the city administration urgently deal with an outstanding grievance. Protest coordinator Arif Fatahilla said that workers’ employment status was unclear and insecure because it fell between two categories—permanent and contract. “We are not asking the city administration to make us civil servants, we just want job security as compensation for having to deal with critical incidents and people who are in distress,” he said. The workers dispersed at noon after holding a sit-down protest.
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Großbritanien: Allianz zur Verteidigung des öffentlichen Gesundheitssystems

Unter dem Namen NHS Together (NHS: National Health System = Nationales Gesundheitssystem) haben sich in Großbritanien verschiedene Gewerkschaften und Berufsorganisationen zusammengeschlossen.

U.a. sammeln sie Unterschriften für folgende Petition an die britische Regierung:

We the undersigned

welcome the extra government investment in health that has allowed NHS staff to deliver improved health care

but call on the government to

  • provide adequate long term funding for the NHS that allows NHS trusts to plan properly for the future
  • stop unplanned and untested top-down reorganisation of the NHS that does not involve staff and patients in planning change
  • stop making different parts of the NHS compete for patients through reforms and the rapid expansion of the private sector - and instead help them work together

and calls on the government in future to work closely with NHS staff and patients to reform and improve the NHS in ways that do not threaten the real achievements made so far.

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Großbritanien: Tag ohne Überstunden

Am 23. Februar begehen die britischen ArbeiterInnen ihren jährlichen Tag ohne Überstunden, den Work Your Proper Hours Day.

Mehr dazu bei worksmart, einer Seite des britischen Gewerkschaftsdachverbandes TUC (englisch).

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Januar 2007

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Tschechische Republik: PharmazeutInnen drohen mit Streik

Radio Prag 8.1.07:

The head of the Czech Chamber of Pharmacists, Lubomir Chudoba, has said that the planned strike of pharmacists is becoming inevitable because of the attitude of the health ministry. Mr Chudoba said that the outcome of a meeting of pharmacists and Health Minister David Rath on Monday will decide whether pharmacies will close their doors on Wednesday or not. Czech pharmacists disagree with the ministry's recent decision to cut their profit margins by three percent in order to reduce medicine costs. Meanwhile, Health Minister David Rath says he is considering a further reduction of the profit margin, which now stands at 29 percent.


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Norwegen: Medizinische Angestellte streiken für 2,5% höhere Gehälter

United Press 22.1.07:

A strike against hospitals in Norway expanded to six more hospitals Monday as more than 1,000 workers seeking higher pay, including doctors, refused to work. ... Doctors, technicians, psychologists and other professionals expanded the strike to 11 hospitals, as they promised Thursday, if the two sides did not reach an agreement by the weekend.
"We can't accept that more than half of our people won't get any raise at all," Akademikerne Helse union Vice President Rune Froyland told Oslo's Aftenposten newspaper. ... State mediator Svein Longa said the two sides were so far apart there was no basis even for an agreement proposal. The union seeks a 2.5 percent pay increase.


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Sri Lanka: Krankenhauspersonal demonstriert für höhere Einkünfte

World Socialist Website 27.1.07:

Health workers in Sri Lanka picketed 14 main hospitals across the country, including the national hospital in Colombo, on January 7. They are campaigning for a uniform allowance, overtime and holiday pay arrears and rectification of salary anomalies. They also want a decent promotions scheme for minor staff and allowances for trainee attendants.

All health workers, except doctors, participated in pickets at Nagoda, Ragama, Kurunegala, Matara, Galle, Monaragala, Badulla, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Kandy, Ratnapura, Ridgeway Children’s Hospital and South Colombo Teaching Hospital.

Health workers at the Colombo Eye Hospital picketed on January 19 and implemented a work-to-rule, demanding the reinstatement of overtime entitlements. They are calling for removal of the hospital’s director and resolution of outstanding administration problems.

Doctors at the hospital began a work-to-rule campaign over the same issues on January 22. The industrial action is impacting on services at the eye hospital, which treats patients from all over the country.

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Griechenland: ÄrztInnen streiken für kürzere Arbeitszeit und mehr Personal

Today's Zaman 16.1.07

Services at public hospitals around the Greek capital will be disrupted this week as doctors begin a five-day strike in protest against their working conditions, state media reported Monday. The strike will affect all state-run hospitals in Athens and Piraeus, which will be treating only emergency cases through Friday, officials said, according to state television. The physicians want stricter limitations on their working hours, which they claim to be excessive and a risk to public health. They also want the state to hire additional medical personnel and to channel more funds toward the public health service. On Thursday and Friday, doctors outside Attica will join the strike action.

Siehe auch


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Zimbabwe: Pflegepersonal und ÄrztInnen im Streik für höhere Gehälter

World Socialist Website 19.1.07:

Hospitals in Zimbabwe have now ground almost completely to a halt, as nurses have joined the strike by hospital doctors. Nurses at the Mpilo and United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) have been on go-slow for the past fortnight. On January 9, they resolved to go out on strike as well, to demand an increase in their own pay of Z$70,000 per month. Only student nurses remain on duty in Zimbabwe’s main hospitals.

World Socialist Website 26.1.07:

The Zimbabwe government is now using army medical staff in an attempt to force an end to a month-long doctors’ strike. David Parirenyatwa, the health minister, was quoted by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) saying, “We are mobilising the army medical corps to alleviate the situation.... We are doing our best to restore services to normal.”
Doctors and nurses are on strike to demand a wage increase of more than 8,000 percent—made necessary by Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation, which is now more than 1,200 percent. Junior doctors have received around 56,000 Zimbabwe dollars (US$224) per month since their previous strike in July 2006.


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Libyen: Petition zur Rettung von fünf Krankenschwestern und einem Arzt vor der Todesstrafe

In Libyen sind fünf bulgarische Krankenschwestern und ein palästinensischer Arzt zum Tode verurteilt worden. Den bereits seit sieben Jahren inhaftierten Krankenschwestern wird vorgeworfen, 426 Kindern in einem libyschen Krankenhaus bewusst HIV-verseuchte Transfusionen verabreicht zu haben. Bereits mehr als 50 Kinder seien seitdem an Aids gestorben. Westliche Experten führen den Ausbruch der Aids-Erkrankungen hingegen auf katastrophale Hygienezustände in dem Kinderkrankenhaus noch vor dem Eintreffen der Bulgarinnen und des Palästinensers zurück. Der belgische Berufsverband für Pflegende (FNIB) hat nun eine Petition initiiert, um das Leben der offensichtlich zu Unrecht verurteilten zu retten. Die Petiton wird am 19.Januar um 12:00 Uhr an den Botschafter Libyens in Paris ausgehändigt.

Siehe auch


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Irak: Hightech Krankenhäuser - am Ende

Newsletter von LabourNet 12.1.07:

Neben kommunalistischen Kriegen hat der US/UK-Versuch, per Massenmord jenes System zu demokratisieren, das USA und EU selbst mit aufgebaut hatten, noch eine ganze Reihe kleinerer Katastrophen produziert - so zum Beispiel im Gesundheitswesen jede Menge Krankenhäuser die mit aufwendiger Hightech ausgestattet sind - aber sonst mit nichts... Der (englische) Bericht "High-Tech Healthcare in Iraq, Minus the Healthcare" von Pratap Chatterjee vom 8. Januar 2007 bei "Corpwatch" wirft Licht auf eine von vielen Katastropen:
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=14290%0D
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Neuseeland: StrahlungstherapeutInnen in Queensland drohen Massenabwanderung an - Nationaler Streik

Ende 2006 hatte die Berufsvereinigung der StrahlungstherapeutInnen von Queensland, MRPG Queensland, angekündigt, die Arbeit in öffentlichen Krankenhäusern generell einzustellen. In ihrem Brief an die PatientInnen hieß es:

We are so Sorry ... Massive staff shortfalls, excessive workloads and fatigue have finally taken their toll. At the unprecedented State crisis Summit in November, medical radiation professionals voted unanimously to leave Queensland Health as a last resort on 29 December 2006. ... Unfortunately resignations of this scale could result in the closure of medical imaging and radiation treatment services in most Queensland Health hospitals. ... Queensland has now fallen so far behind that our scarce medical radiation professionals can no longer help the patients on increasing waiting lists due to massive staff shortfalls, endure overwhelming workloads or provide services safely due to fatigue. The resigning workforce has a choice of job offers elsewhere in Australia ...

Im Januar kam es zum nationalen Streik der StrahlungstherapeutInnen, d.h. der

  • Radiographers: (x-rays, ultrasounds, CT scans, angiography, MRI, catheter labs)
  • Radiation Therapists: (cancer treatment)
  • Mammographers: (breast screens for cancer)
  • Nuclear Medicine Technologists


World Socialist Website 13.1.07:

Last minute talks between New Zealand District Health Boards (DHBs) and the Apex union failed to avert rolling stoppages by 170 radiation therapists this week. Negotiations are deadlocked. Canterbury DHB therapists walked out for three days on January 9. Therapists in Auckland, Capital and Coast stopped work for one day on January 11 and will strike again on Monday. MidCentral therapists also struck for a half-day.

The therapists first took industrial action last September in support of a 6 percent cost-of-living increase over two years. The union claims that when historical grading scales are removed, the DHBs’ base pay offer is only 1.4 percent. The total difference amounts to $150,000—well below $500,000 the boards recently paid to send 36 breast cancer patients to Australia for treatment in an attempt to circumvent the effect of the strikes.

An Apex spokesperson said the union had dropped its claim from 5 to 3 percent in an attempt to reach a settlement in the last meditated talks prior to the strikes. The union has accused the DHBs of refusing to negotiate in good faith and is calling on the government to intervene in the dispute.



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Zimbabwe: Streik der ÄrtztInnen weitet sich aus: Gehälter teilweise unter der offiziellen Armutsgrenze

World Socialist Website 5.1.07:

The strike that began before Christmas at Mpilo Hospital in Bulawayo has now spread to all the major hospitals throughout Zimbabwe. Senior doctors at the major hospitals have now joined the strike in support of the pay demands of their junior colleagues. The junior doctors currently receive around Z56,800 (US$236) a month in pay and an additional Z$57,000 (US$237) in the form of various allowances. This is below the official poverty line. ...
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USA: Anonymes Investment von ÄrztInnen

Deutsches Ärzteblatt 2.1.07:

US-Firmen haben ein neues Geschäftsmodell ersonnen, um ihre Gewinne zu steigern. Sie werben Ärzte als Teilhaber. Dies schafft einen finanziellen Anreiz für die Mediziner, die Produkte der Firma einzusetzen, deren Teilhaber sie sind, selbst wenn die Produkte überteuert sind. Im Bereich der Wirbelsäulenchirurgie sind „investor-doctors“ offenbar eine verbreitete Unsitte, wie die New York Times berichtet. Einige Firmen sollen zum großen Teil im Besitz von Ärzten sein. Die Leidtragenden sind die Krankenkassen oder selbstzahlende Patienten, welche diese neue Variante eines medizinisch-industriellen Komplexes schwer durchschauen können, da die Firmenbeteiligungen anonym bleiben. ... Erst in einem Gerichtsverfahren kam der New York Times zufolge heraus, dass ein großer Anbieter, Allez Spine aus Irvine, zu zwei Dritteln im Besitz von „investor-doctors“ ist. Beteiligungen sollen 50.000 US-Dollar kosten, und offenbar gibt es auch in Deutschland Interessenten. Denn auf der Homepage können sich Mitglieder mit einem deutschen (als einzigem fremdsprachigen) Mitgliederanmeldungsformular einloggen. ...


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Siehe auch

Von "http://www.ungesundleben.de/privatisierung/index.php/Internationale_Nachrichten_2007"
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