Members of the Union of the defunct Seguro Popular demonstrated again to demand that the State Government settle outstanding labor debts with former workers in the health sector, some of whom have been waiting for the conclusion of their payments for up to nine years.
The general secretary of the union, Ángel Carrera Ramírez, reported that at least 24 former workers already have all the opinions and administrative requirements completed, so the only thing missing is the final authorization for the corresponding resources to be released.
He explained that the state’s Ministry of Finance has already issued the necessary opinions and that the Ministry of Health requested the documentation since the months of November and December, so, he stated, the process is fully integrated.
Carrera Ramírez recalled that last December they held a meeting at the Regional Policy Coordination, where they were assured that steps would be taken to cover the payments before the end of the year; However, this commitment was not fulfilled due to internal problems.
Subsequently, on December 22, the former workers met with the Secretary of Government and other state officials, who asked them to present a formal letter to the Regional Policy Coordination. The document was delivered and, on January 7, the union leader sent a new letter directly to the governor during an event in the municipality of Río Blanco, without receiving an official response so far.
The debt corresponding to these 24 former workers amounts to 10 million 800 thousand pesos and includes various job categories, including doctors, supervisors, counselors, module heads and administrative staff.
Likewise, the union leader warned that there is a second group of 55 former workers who have not yet received their payment, whose debt is around 40 million pesos, which brings the total outstanding amount to nearly 51 million pesos.
Carrera Ramírez expressed his concern about the administrative transition between the Ministry of Health and the IMSS-Wellbeing system, since he considered that this process could further delay the solution to the conflict.
He recalled that during the last state administration the CIPAL organization was created, to which resources were assigned annually and that, when it disappeared, it accumulated around 2.7 billion pesos, without clarity about the destination of said resources.
Finally, he noted that, although some payments have been made gradually, the process has been stopped on several occasions. In the absence of an official response, the former workers do not rule out continuing with demonstrations as a measure of pressure to be treated.
“These are years of anguish and uncertainty. We only ask that what has already been legally and administratively resolved be fulfilled,” he concluded.
