Workers at the Garrahan Children’s Hospital have received a 61-percent rise in base pay, applicable retroactively from October and covering permanent staff, government-contracted workers, residents and research fellows.
Union leaders welcomed the increase on Wednesday. Salaries now approach “the minimum cost of maintaining a family,” said Alejandro Lipcovich, a union representative at the hospital, which employs around 4,000 staff, speaking to local channel Telediario.
Since taking office in December 2023, President Javier Milei has enforced a strict fiscal adjustment programme that has hit the public sector hardest – including staff at Garrahan, Argentina’s leading paediatric institution.
“Thanks to joint work with the national government,” the hospital’s management said in a statement on Tuesday, “a recognition of workers has been consolidated through a pay rise of nearly 60 percent” for permanent staff, public employment contractors, fellows and residents.
Internal figures indicate that the starting salary for a physician working 42 hours per week will rise from 1.2 million to 1.6 million pesos (US$814, US$1,085), including retroactive payments.
The measure will be complemented by fixed bonuses introduced in September, which together imply an effective increase of between 35 and 40 percent in take-home pay, according to government sources.
Workers have hailed the measure as a victory for their struggle and for the implementation of the Paediatric Emergency Law, which allocates additional funds to hospitals nationwide.
The legislation was approved by Congress in August but vetoed by Milei in September, who argued it would undermine his fiscal surplus – a key pillar of his economic plan. Congress overturned the veto in October, delivering a political blow to the President. Milei has since only partially promulgated the bill into law, demanding it be costed by lawmakers first to ensure fiscal balance.
“This increase, even if they don’t call it that, is the application of the paediatric health emergency law,” said Norma Lezana, general secretary of the Asociación de Profesionales y Técnicos del Hospital Gárrahan (“Association of Professionals and Technicians at Garrahan Hospital”), in a video posted on social media on Wednesday.
In an internal statement, the Asociación de Trabajadores del Estado (ATE) state-workers union described the deal as a “historic triumph” achieved “in the face of attempts to delegitimise the claim,” while noting that wage deductions applied during the strike have yet to be returned and that the Paediatric Emergency Law remains only partially enforced.
Opposition lawmaker Julia Strada, who heads the private Centro de Economía Política (“Centre for Political Economy,” CEPA), said on social media that the wage hike restores lost purchasing power and represents a one-percent real-term increase compared to salaries as of November 2023.
Despite the pay rise, hospital professionals warn of ongoing difficulties: understaffed wards, postponed surgeries, delays in appointments and a steady outflow of specialists to the private sector. Union leaders estimate that more than 300 professionals have resigned over the past year.
“It’s a huge achievement made possible by the perseverance of workers, families and lawmakers who stood by us,” said Georgina Duarte, a paediatric nurse and chair of the Asociación de Profesionales y Técnicos del Hospital Gárrahan (APyT) grouping. “It’s not everything we asked for, but it’s a historic step. Many of us couldn’t make ends meet, and this shows that if you fight, you can win dignified work.”
Fellow union delegate Gerardo Oroz described the rise as “a break from the public-sector wage ceiling,” though he warned that hundreds of staff remain on temporary contracts and that supply shortages continue to hamper hospital operations.
For months, streets around Buenos Aires and the Garrahan Hospital have been filled with students, teachers, doctors and healthcare workers staging protests, open-air broadcasts, marches and strikes demanding a larger budget for the institution.
During the conflict, “around 300 workers from different areas have resigned,” Lipcovich told local media.
– TIMES/AFP/PERFIL
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