The workers of the Garrahan Hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina’s leading high-complexity pediatric hospital, announced a strike on Thursday due to salary cuts that they claim endanger its operation. The Labor Secretariat, however, required the protest to be cancelled and both parties to return to the negotiating table until a solution is reached — a process known as conciliación obligatoria.

As of Thursday evening, Alejandro Lipcovich, representative of the state workers union, had not been officially notified of the conciliación obligatoria. The workers have not decided if they will go through with the strike.

The Garrahan staff has been calling attention to their critical situation for months “We have lost 60% of our purchasing power since December 2023,” Victoria González, a pediatrician working at the hospital, told the Herald.

The hospital employs more than 5,000 people, and 80% of its budget is financed by state funds (80% of them by the national government and the remaining 20% by the Buenos Aires city government). An extra 20% comes from the hospital’s resources, such as investigation projects or investments.

It employs 5,000 people and treats close to 40% of Argentina’s cancer patients, with children flocking in from all over the country for treatment. It sees 610,000 consultations and over 12,000 surgeries per year.

In 2024, the salaries were in effect frozen, and workers made nine strikes. This year, salaries have increased by 1.2 to 1.4% a month since January, and inflation during those months ranged from 2.2% to 3.7%. 

The hospital’s 250 residents took the biggest toll, as the health minister pays them AR$797,000 (US$675) a month. The hospital gives them an AR$200,000 bonus (US$169). Mario Russo, the previous health minister, agreed to give them a 35% increase last year but resigned before it came to fruition. Two weeks ago, the residents started a strike. The situation, according to González, contributed to the “collapse” of the institution’s clinics as well as its hospitalization and emergency services.

This is not the first time health workers have denounced the Milei administration due to budget cuts. Earlier this year, the Health Ministry laid off 40% of the Bonaparte mental health hospital. The government said it will guarantee patient care, but the hospital’s workers fear the administration is making a tacit attempt to shut the facility down.

Inés, a worker in the Garrahan hospital who asked for her surname not to be made public due to fear of retaliation, said that workers have to look for other jobs even though they work eight hours a day. “Being exhausted hurts the treatment of children,” she said. “The hospital is on the verge of collapse.”

The Garrahan Hospital’s Association of Professionals and Technicians filed a criminal complaint for breach of duty as a public official and abandonment of patients against the authorities of the facility. In a communiqué, they added that 200 professionals have quit the institution since 2023.  

“There are more and more resignations, professionals from many disciplines who have 15 or 16 years of training — people who worked in the hospital, who love public health, but had to leave because they could not make ends meet,” said González.

“Something serious is going to end up happening, and nobody is going to take responsibility,” González said. “The Health Ministry does not want to put one single peso into raising wages.”

González said the Health Ministry has not received the workers. A spokesperson for the ministry told the Herald that the Garrahan workers’ salary increases “are in line with those received by the entire national public administration.”