Health sector strike: And Gueusseum claims an 80-100% compliance rate and maintains the pressure

Despite requisitions, pressure, and reported alternative measures in some healthcare facilities, the Alliance of Autonomous Health Unions (And Gueusseum) asserts that its call for a total strike has been widely heeded across Senegal. The union continues to demand the effective implementation of the agreements reached with the government.

The mobilization remains strong in the health sector. In its strike communiqué #12, the Executive Board of the Alliance of Autonomous Health Unions (And Gueusseum) presents a report it considers particularly significant for the first day of its strike action. According to the union, the participation rate fluctuated between 80% and 100% in the various departments and regions of the country.

And Gueusseum also denounces requisitions, pressure, intimidation, and attempts to circumvent the movement in certain healthcare facilities. In Dakar, in particular, emergency services were reportedly maintained in several facilities thanks to the mobilization of doctors and medical students specializing in healthcare, in order to preserve certain services. For the Directorate, however, these ad hoc measures cannot mask the scale of the mobilization of healthcare workers.

Agreements with the state are at the heart of the power struggle.

The union insists it does not want to indulge in triumphalism. Rather, it expresses regret for the movement's impact on the population and denounces the pressure tactics, circumvention, and substitution tactics allegedly used to justify exercising the right to strike.

For And Gueusseum, the objective of the mobilization remains clearly defined: to obtain the effective implementation of the remaining agreements negotiated and signed with the government. The Alliance believes that the failure to respect these commitments undermines the credibility of the State's word and weakens social dialogue.

Warning about continuity of care

And Gueusseum also criticizes initiatives that, according to her, are designed to weaken the union organization or to neutralize the effects of the strike through substitute mechanisms.

On this point, the Board calls for vigilance regarding the conditions under which certain medical services are provided during the strike. It particularly emphasizes the need to respect the requirements of competence, qualification, supervision, and safety essential to any healthcare provision.

The union emphasizes, however, that defending workers' rights and protecting patients are not incompatible. On the contrary, it presents them as two dimensions of the same requirement for quality, dignity, and responsibility in the public health service.

The government is being called upon to "take responsibility"

Despite the ongoing strike, And Gueusseum maintains it remains open to serious, sincere, responsible, and constructive social dialogue. However, according to the Board of Directors, this openness does not signify an abandonment of its demands.

The Alliance is now calling on the government to "take responsibility" and to proceed with the effective implementation of the commitments it has made.

The standoff continues in the healthcare sector. And Gueusseum maintains its rallying cry and warns: the mobilization continues.