“Despised wages, mistreated wages, underpaid wages,” these few words summarize the state of mind of the some 350 protesters gathered yesterday afternoon in front of Sainte-Marie Hospital. Most of them, employees of the facility, demonstrated at the call of the inter-union CGT-SUD-CGC-FO-CFDT-CFTC. Declared goals: a wage increase, a 2% allowance for the high cost of living in Nice, and the retention of jobs. “Costs have gone up while our salaries have stagnated. We haven’t had a raise in nearly 10 years. This is no longer possible. We just want to be able to live decently,” notes Catherine Gaillard, head supervisor at the site.
Sainte-Marie, a private hospital funded by public money, is in trouble. This is despite the efforts of its 1,103 employees, including 300 healthcare workers. The deficit has been deepening for four years now, and due to a lack of staff, the facility struggles to manage its patients. Moreover, the inter-union denounces management deemed “haphazard” and a lack of support from the Ministry of Health. “The state is currently privatizing many public sectors. Psychiatry is particularly affected, and we increasingly feel that our ministry is abandoning us,” highlights Guy Musella, CGC union delegate.
The man is angry. As a senior health executive in the facility, he sees the situation deteriorating day by day: “Patients are suffering. The lack of personnel and resources means that it is increasingly difficult to treat them under good conditions,” he adds before saying, “It’s therapeutic wandering.” Indeed, the picture is not at all rosy. The number of available hospital beds keeps decreasing, healthcare structures regularly cease their activities. Thus, two of them were not reopened last July. The inter-union would like to revisit these closures.
The situation is not new but has recently worsened. A bit dismayed, the union delegate says, “It started to deteriorate in 1998/99, but over the past six months, it’s been worse. The acute lack of resources is increasingly felt. In fact, the state mainly wants to save money everywhere.” A concrete example: from the 1,000 beds available in the early 80s, the psychiatric facility has retained only about 435.
“More verbal than physical assaults,” the safety of the nursing teams and patients is also on the agenda. The head supervisor, who is well acquainted with the issue from experiencing it daily, however, adds a note on staff assaults: “We are constantly on edge and it’s true that occasionally things go wrong. But it’s very rare. One or two cases of serious violence per decade.” She continues, “It’s mostly verbal assaults rather than physical ones. If it escalates, we do not hesitate to call the police. Moreover, we work closely with them.” The tragedy of Pau is still on everyone’s mind. On the night of December 17 to 18, 2004, two nurses were murdered and mutilated with a knife by a deranged individual. The case deeply moved public opinion. Guy Musella responds to his colleague’s comments and asserts, “The state then promised concrete measures to solve the problem. Two and a half years later, nothing has changed. That’s also why we are on the streets today.”
Despite everything, recent cases of abuse cannot be ignored. A rape case was uncovered in 2004. The trade unionist admits these missteps but refuses to let the media take an overly simplistic view: “When there is serious misconduct, it must be punished. But it is primarily an isolated act. We must not generalize this to all nursing staff.”
A round-table meeting between the general management and the inter-union will be held on Thursday to find solutions. But the union delegate is not fooled, “They refused to come and discuss at Sainte-Marie. So we’re going up to negotiate with the board of directors in Chamalières (Puy-de-Dôme). But we are almost certain they will turn a deaf ear. It’s always the same, they pass the buck between the concerned authorities and ultimately nothing changes.” Response in the coming days.
