(EFE).- The Venezuelan Medical Association (FMV) on Wednesday called on the workers of this union to stand up for respect for trade union and trade union autonomy and for the improvement of working conditions on May 1st, when International Labor Day is celebrated protest .
In a press release, FMV President Douglas León Natera pointed out that “the healthcare union collective bargaining agreement expired 19 years ago because the government refuses to improve the working conditions of Venezuelan workers in general,” he urged his colleagues to raise your voice.
“This May Day, according to the national planning of the workforce, we will demonstrate for Worker’s Day and demand a discussion about collective bargaining as well as fair wages for professionals and workers,” León said according to the letter, in which he did not detail it whether they will hold any other public activities besides the protest.
The doctor reminded that fair wages and union membership are rights that have been “snatched away” from all civil society organizations in the country.
“Venezuelan doctors are demanding a collectively agreed base salary of $1,500 a month”
The FMV blamed the National Electoral Council (CNE), which is responsible for promoting and conducting elections for trade unions and professional associations, for restricting trade union rights because “no professional or workers’ organization in the country has updated its board due to the refusal of the Venezuelan electoral authority to hold elections in these institutions at the direction of the government”.
He also referred to the salary of health workers, assuring that “Venezuelan doctors demand a base salary of $1,500 per month, agreed through collective bargaining.”
On the subject, he explained that FMV’s salary proposal was last presented on March 29 to Labor Minister José Ramón Rivero, who, according to the association, “refused to give an answer .”
On April 20, León assured that in Venezuela “there is no guarantee of the right to health” due to the hospital crisis that the country is experiencing mainly as a result of the lack of medicines and medical supplies, pointing out 80% of the health network were “in ruins and abandoned for many years”.
The government, which ensures Venezuelans’ health needs are met, blames the Caribbean nation for sanctions by the US and other countries, which it says are preventing more money from being invested in improving hospitals and working conditions.
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