Health workers strike in Russia
RUSSIA
As the leader of the strike committee at Chelyabinsk's main hospital, Vadim Syamtyenko, put it: "we used to be firm supporters of the reforms, but we have been profoundly shocked by their recent trajectory.
"We are now in a state of utter
ON April 20, 1992 health workers in the city of Chelyabinsk in the Urals region of Russia went on strike after having picketed the city administration building for ten days. This strike, in protest against miserable wages and the poor condition of the health service, may develop into an all-Russian dispute.
poverty. Today, an experienced, welleducated doctor gets at the most 1,000 roubles a month, not enough to buy one shoe. Nurses and other groups of health employees get far less.
"A year ago we started to organize, at that time aided by trade union leaders, but they proved inefficient and this year we set up a strike committee
POUL FUNDER LARSEN — April 21,1992.
HELYABINSK, with 1.5 million inhabitants, is one of the Urals region, which is the backbone of the military-industrial complex. During World War 2, the city was dubbed "Tankograd", as every third tank in the Soviet army was manufactured in Chelyabinsk's huge tractor works. To this day the predominance of military-linked heavy industry remains an overwhelming fact; as much as 90% of the industry in and around Chelyabinsk is to some extent related to mili-
In 1957 the region suffered a major leakage from a nearby nuclear installation. The precise scope of this remains unknown, while local sources claim that a second (but never officially recognized) leak occurred in 1965.
As a result of these nuclear escapes and the overall pollution from the industry the ecological situation is critical, with major implications for the health of the population.
Health service hit by spending cuts
The Chelyabinsk health service is indeed in a serious situation, primarily due to public spending cuts by the Yeltsin government as it eagerly tries to implement International Monetary Fund directives.
Centralized distribution of medicine to hospitals and clinics has effectively ceased and the pharmacy is also empty.
There are, for example, hardly any antibiotics in Chelyabinsk. Medicine can be bought on the black market but only at outrageous prices.
Health service equipment and buildings are worn out. In Chelyabinsk's main hospital, the Gynaecology
Department is situated in a hut dating from pre-revolutionary times, while next to it an almost finished 12-storey building is crumbling because there is no money to complete the construc-
The collapse of the public health sector has very serious repercussions, aggravated by widespread malnutrition: diptheria has become common, while typhoid fever and cholera, eradicated by 1929, threaten to reappear.
A large part of the population is now forced to pay for health care through one of the numerous medical cooperatives that are springing up - according to a recent estimate 65% of Mus-
In many places it is becoming impossible to obtain certain operations unless you provide iodine, cotton wool and other necessities yourself.
When the healthworkers of Chelyabinsk started their protest, the city authorities tried to cow them.
As one of the striking doctors, Yelena Kuklina, who is also an activist in the workers club "Rabochii" explains: "The city administration is trying to portray us as supporters of individual payment for health care, but this is absolutely false.
"We want a health service that is free of charge. It is striking that, when people took to the streets a year ago, Me, who we Take this was depicted as 'the voice of the masses' action the administration scorns us as "the red-brown hordes".
Rising prices spark new militancy
So far healthworkers have been considered one of the least militant groups, but sky-rocketing prices over the last four months and the lack of any real indexation of wages have been the final straw.
on the level of the city and the oblast ("region"), relying on forces from below.
Trade union gives moral support
"The trade union has given a certain amount of moral support, but they are not leading the movement. There are suggestions about forming an independent union, but this is at present an embryonic project.
"In our struggle we are putting forward broad demands for the improvement of the health service, and also calling for a considerable increase in our own wages.
"We have received support from, among others, miners in the region, for whom we collected money during their strike. It is my impression that the population understands and supports our actions"
The Chelyabinsk health workers strike has attracted a great deal of attention, and has been reported on several times on national TV news.
It comes at a time when other low-paid public workers are on strike — for example teachers in the Kusbass in Western Siberia. All in all there have been more than 400 strikes in health and education since the January price rises, while industrial workers have been comparatively passive.
An all-Russian healthworkers strike has been postponed until the end of April because of negotiations with the government, but the example of Chelyabinsk shows that the situation at local and regional level remains tense. In their turn such struggles could become transformed into a movement openly challenging the government's economic policies.
Telegrams of support and greetings can be sent to: CIS, 454080, Chelyabinsk, Ulitsa Vorovskovo 16, Chelyabinskaya Gorodskaya Bolnitsa no. 1, Profsoyuznyi Komitet. *
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