To the blockages and protests generated by the obligation of the insurance for vehicles is added another focus of conflict for the government of Bernardo Arévalo: the salary demands of health workers.
This Wednesday, March 19, workers from the Ministry of Health arrived at the institution to demand a salary improvement. The demonstration was concentrated during the morning in front of the headquarters of the portfolio waiting to be treated by the authorities.
Luis Alpírez, leader of the National Union of Health Workers of Guatemala (SNTSG), mentioned that They ask for compliance with article 140 of the General Budget of Income and Expenditure of the State for fiscal year 2025, Decree 36-2024, which establishes a salary increase and an economic incentive for all personnel-more than 60 thousand workers-as well as the reclassification and transfer of contractors to permanent line. They also ask to increase the amount of the Scholarship of Studies for Epesists of the Medicine career.
The provision establishes that the Ministry of Health must make the budgetary adjustments necessary to finance the aforementioned increases and incentives. Previously, the administrative and financial vice minister, Juan Carlos Oxom, has indicated that RThey and the calculations of the money needed to fulfill this commitment.
“They say there is no money, that there are no conditions, but for that is the negotiation, to find the technical, financial and administrative exit to all the problems that arise from a legislation,” said Alpírez. He added that, last February, they presented the proposal for an increase of Q4 thousand for all workersamount that are willing to negotiate.
He added that the human resource is the backbone of the public health system and that the wages they perceive are not consistent with the increase in the prices of the basic basket, which is why they mobilized at the headquarters of the Ministry.
There are workers who arrived by buses since the early hours of Wednesday, March 19, providing that the blockages would not allow them to pass. Others did it on foot and walked for hours on the roads Roosevelt and Aguilar Batres.
Alpírez said that This manifestation is foreign to the blockages derived from the disagreement with the mandatory insurance for vehicles and that was scheduled for two weeks.
SNSG members also seek that the authorities of the Ministry of Health ratify that the discussion of the points established in article 140 is carried out with the majority union and that, in this case, their group has more than 35 thousand affiliates.
“If that increase does not satisfy the working class and negotiates with a minority union, they will have us on the streets. The route is already established, there they will see us on the roads,” added the union leader.
From temporary to permanent
In the Ministry of Health they work 11 thousand 502 people in the administrative area, hired in lines 029 and in subgroup 18. Meanwhile, in the care area There are 18,900 employees in line 182. These workers must be transferred to permanent places, a union demand that is several years old.
For 2024 and what goes from 2025, none of these workers has passed to a 011 square, and the calls stagnated.
Carlos Noé Santos Urías, general secretary of the San Juan de Dios National Union, mentioned that they also demand that the process of incorporating temporary contractors to permanent be carried out as established in article 140, and that the salary increase, economic incentive and reclassification of health workers are granted.
The Ministry of Health delivered, during a work table with deputies to the Congress of the Republic, a schedule in which it establishes the route to comply with what the regulations dictates, but this does not define quantities with respect to the increase or incentive. Therefore, Santos Urías said they will give a waiting beat so that this week the authorities present a proposal. Otherwise, They will take to the streets to demonstrate on March 26.
What does indicate the document is that, in monitoring of the process of incorporating contractors to permanent line, personnel will be transferred to 4,328 positions distributed in 38 executing units, which will occur as of May in blocks of 1 thousand 200 seats. Meanwhile, in the issue of reclassification, 1,800 positions between May and June will be taken to call.
In evaluation
According to the Ministry of Health, complying with what is established in article 140 implies a series of administrative and financial actions. Therefore, the Financial Technical Committee was formed, which performs the evaluation of the resources available in the budget assigned this year and, after the analysis, will coordinate with other government instances to determine the impact on the general budget of the State or in the internal adjustments carried out by the Ministry.
For the demonstration in front of the ministerial building, Oxom indicated that the dialogue remains open and that, to end of this week, they expect the results of technical and administrative viability studies of the committee to comply with what is established in article 140.
Given the demand of health workers’ health workers, reclassification and transfer of contract personnel to permanent line, the @Minsaludguate He points out that he evaluates the allocation of financial resources to fulfill these commitments. @prensa_libre pic.twitter.com/8x4akrwu1s
– Ana Lucía Ola (@aola_pl) March 19, 2025