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CIS
Boulevard Universitario #4
Colonia El Roble
San Salvador, El Salvador
Centroamérica
Tel/FAX: +503 226-2623
cis_elsalvador@yahoo.com
Ministry of Labor
refusing to legally recognize the
General Union of Healthcare Workers (SIGESAL).
Letters of support needed NOW!
November 30, 2004
Since 1993 the General Union of Healthcare Workers (SIGESAL) of El
Salvador has played a central role in thwarting the Salvadoran
Government's
efforts to privatize the national healthcare system. Employed at the public
Hospital Rosales, union members have been particularly crucial in
preventing the privatization of services at that
hospital, the only in El Salvador to offer
affordable access to all medical specialties. The Ministry of Labor
is currently refusing to extend the SIGESAL board of
directors the credentials necessary in order for the
union to operate legally. This constitutes a refusal
to recognize SIGESAL as a legal entity, and a denial of its right to exist.
This has grave implications for the future of the
union, as well as the continued accessibility of
services at Hospital Rosales. We need you to
TAKE ACTION to
support SIGESAL's right to exist, so that they can continue
fighting the privatization of medical specialties at Hospital
Rosales.
Context:
A similar problem arose in 1996 when the Salvadoran Ministry of Labor (at
the request of the Ministry of Health) retracted credentials
previously extended to SIGESAL's Board of Directors.
This followed the union's decision to change its
official name from the Union of Nurses to the General
Union of Healthcare Workers. During the same period, the Ministry of Health
abruptly transferred the union leadership to other hospitals and
clinics within the public system. The Ministry of
Labor offered two inconsistent justifications for
their decision to retract the credentials: 1) Union members
had not taken the necessary legal steps to change their name from the
Union
of Nurses to the General Union of Healthcare Workers, and therefore only
nurses could be legitimate union members (while in reality a range of
professions within the hospital are represented); 2) The workers at
Hospital Rosales do not have a right to unionize
because they are public employees, and according to
Article 47 of the Constitution of the Republic of El
Salvador, only private sector employees and public
employees of autonomous bodies (which the Government
claims Rosales is not) have the right to organize. A
resolution handed down by the International Labor Organization
(ILO) in 1996 (Case #1874) called upon the Salvadoran Government to
change all national laws so as to facilitate recognition of SIGESAL,
and urged the Ministry of Health to reinstate
employees of Hospital Rosales that had been
transferred elsewhere in the public health system. The government
reinstated the transferred workers, but has continued to question
SIGESAL's right to exist.
The Government's current refusal to legally recognize SIGESAL will have
obvious repercussions for the strength of the union. If SIGESAL does
not obtain this recognition, the Hospital Rosales
administrators will likely stop taking dues out of
union member's paychecks, and probably close the
SIGESAL office space. The resultant weakening or elimination of the union
would remove all impediment to the Ministry of Health's effort to
privatize medical specialties at Hospital Rosales.
According to SIGESAL representatives, the Ministry
currently plans to maintain only General Medicine and
General Surgery within Rosales, outsourcing all medical
specialties to private hospitals and clinics. Because of the
appreciably higher cost of private healthcare, this
will limit many Salvadorans' access to those
specialties.
TAKE ACTION!
The members of SIGESAL need you to contact the Salvadoran Minister of
Labor and the International Labour Organization (ILO) regarding this
refusal to recognize workers' right to organize. We
ask that letter to the Minister of Labor be firm but
cordial. In working to resolve this problem SIGESAL
needs your solidarity, but please keep in mind that a rude or disrespectful
letter will not help. There are legal reasons
why the Ministry of Labor should recognize the union,
and we ask that all letters respectfully draw on these
reasons. Please see sample letters below.
Contact information for the Salvadoran Ministry of Labor:
José Roberto Espinal Escobar
Fax: +503-209-3728
Email:
informacion@mtps.gob.sv
Contact information for the International Labor Organization (ILO) in
Geneva, Switzerland:
Bernard Gernigon
Fax: +41.22.799.7670, +41.22.798.8685
Email:
libsynd@ilo.org
Sample letter to the Minister of Labor:
José Roberto Espinal Escobar
Ministro de Trabajo y Previsión Social
Respetable Señor Ministro:
Le escribo con respecto al caso del Sindicato de la Industría General de
Empleados de Salud (SIGESAL), a cuya junta directiva le ha sido
negado hasta la fecha las credenciales necesarias
para su funcionamiento legal.
Quisiera señalar que dicho sindicato goza de Personería Juridica desde el
año 1978. Además, anteriores cuestionamientos de la
legalidad nacional de
SIGESAL deben de haber sido resueltos, dada la resolución emitida por la
Organización Internacional de Trabajo (OIT) en 1996 (Caso #1874), que
aclara las fallas del ley laboral salvadoreña según las normas
internacionales.
A pesar de que El Salvador no ha ratificado el Convenio Sobre la Libertad
Sindical y la Protección del Derecho de Sindicación ni el Convenio
Sobre el
Derecho de Sindicación y de Negociación Colectiva (ambos del
Organización Internacional de Trabajo), quisiera aclararle que la
actual negación de credenciales a la junta directiva
de SIGESAL constituye una violación de derechos
laborales codificados en tratados internacionales de los
cuales El Salvador es firmante. Entre ellos es el Pacto Internaciónal
de Derechos Civiles y Politicos, que en Articulo 22,
nº 2 declara que "toda persona tiene derecho a
asociarse libremente con otras, incluso el derecho a
fundar sindicatos y afiliarse a ellos para la protección de sus intereses."
Asimismo, el Articulo 8, nº2 del Pacto Internacional de Derechos
Económicos Sociales y Culturales aclara que "los Estados Partes en el
presente Pacto se comprometen a garantizar: a) El derecho de toda
persona a fundar sindicatos y a afiliarse al de su
elección."
Por las razones antes mencionadas, le pido que ortorgue las credenciales
necesarias a los miembros de la junta directiva de SIGESAL. Por su
atención le agradezco de antemano.
Atentamente,
Your name, title
Your country
Sample letter to the International Labor Organization:
Bernard Gernigon
Chief, Freedom of Association (LIBSYND) Branch
International Labour Organization (ILO)
4, route des Morillons
CH-1211 Geneva 22
Switzerland
Dear Mr. Gernigon:
I write to you regarding the General Union of Healthcare Workers
(SIGESAL) of El Salvador. The Ministry of Labor of El Salvador is
currently denying the members of the Board of
Directors of SIGESAL the credentials they need in
order for the union to function legally. The Salvadoran
Government justifies their refusal to extend these credentials by
arguing, among other things, that only employees of
"autonomous" state entities have a right to organize
a union, and that the public Hospital Rosales (where
SIGESAL members work) does not fulfill this criterion. In a 1996 resolution
regarding Case Number 1874, the ILO declared this insufficient
grounds to deny the union board the necessary
credentials, and furthermore asked that the
Salvadoran Government revise their labor laws to recognize the right of
ALL state employees to organize.
I ask that you take action on this issue, to ensure that the members of
SIGESAL are not denied their internationally recognized right to
organize a union. Thank you for your attention
regarding this matter.
Sincerely,
Your name, title
Your country