According to the spokesman of the union negotiating commission of that mixed hospital unit, with public and private resources, António Ulu, the strike, which must be interspersed, results from the lack of response to the claim book sent to the employer on 27 January last.
"Our demands have been coming since 2016, a period in which the management decided to withdraw the employees' allowances under the pretext that they were no longer in a position to pay the staff of the internal contract, who would be dismissed, but in solidarity we decided that colleagues should keep if ", affirmed the unionist, in declarations to Lusa.
The replacement of suspended subsidies, equal pay for health technicians in the civil service, adjustment of categories, payment of transport subsidies and better food are some of the demands.
António Ulu said that the management of the hospital unit accepted some of the points in the claim book, at a meeting on 4 March last, but 15 days later the employer announced that the food would be suspended and dismissed internal employees.
"So, where is the seriousness, when there was already a previous agreement", questioned the union leader, accusing the employers of "bad faith" and of not fulfilling the agreed commitments.
"That is why we thought it would be good to move on to the strike for a week and we do not want to negotiate more with the hospital management, which says nothing," he said.
The strike at the Divina Providência Hospital, located in the municipality of Kilamba Kiaxi, one of the nine in the capital, is on the second day, but "the minimum services" are safeguarded, especially in the area of hospitalizations.
The first phase of the strike runs until Friday and, after this period, the employees guarantee that they will prolong the strike for another 30 days and then resume the strike "progressively" until the demands are met.
Speaking to journalists, the director of the hospital, Miranda Panzo, said that the financial situation of the health institution "is increasingly difficult and as a first step the board of directors has had to temporarily suspend the meals of all employees".
"We are analyzing other measures that we will make known in due course in order to contain it. It is a situation that we have never experienced and because of this pandemic situation we are no longer able to," she lamented.
Miranda Panzo also guaranteed that his leadership already works with the Luanda government, the municipal leadership and the Ministry of Health to find "strategies to overcome the situation".
