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The point of view of the
Chamber is that the
agreement allows Union
members to continue
receiving a series of
privileges, including high
salaries. / Social
Security Union courtesy photo.
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Chamber of
Commerce considers
agreement
between Union and Social
Security shameful
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
On Tuesday, authorities from the
Costa Rican Chamber of Commerce
said, "the agreement reached
yesterday between the government
authorities and the
representatives of the Social
Security union to stop the
eight-day strike is shameful and
unacceptable".
According to the Chamber, the
agreement contradicts the
government's commitment to
rescue the fiscal imbalance in
Costa Rica "and apparently, it
is the private sector that must
continue making sacrifices."
The point of view of the Chamber
is that the agreement allows
Union members to continue
receiving a series of
privileges, including high
salaries.
"In times of economic slowdown
and fiscal crisis, not only the
private sector must make
sacrifices for national
welfare," said the Chamber in
its statement. "The public
sector must also restructure its
internal organization, reduce
costs, be more efficient, and
above all be more effective."
According to the Chamber,
companies are still trying to
recover from the negative
consequences caused by the union
strike of last year, which
lasted from September to
December.
Losses of about $30,574,250 per
week and road closures were
recorded due to the lack of a
law, said Chamber said in its
statement.
According to the latest Social
Security report, during the
8-day union strike, 223,762
medical appointments were
scheduled, of which only 140,890
were completed.
Concerning surgeries, 3,341
procedures were scheduled, of
which only 1,677 were performed.
In April, A.M. Costa Rica
reported that the court gave
Social Security 6-months to
reduce patient waiting lists in
hospitals.
The Constitutional Court Chamber
ordered Social Security to
design, in a maximum of six
months, an integrated management
system to reduce the
"disproportionate and
unreasonable deadlines that the
patient should expect to receive
care in hospitals," said the
ruling.
The problem is that it
represents a systematic and
repeated violation of the right
to health, said the Court.
Judges ordered the system in
response to an appeal by a
senior citizen filed on
September 13, 2018.
The citizen said she required
surgery at the San Rafael
Hospital* in the province
of Alajuela, but she was not
informed of a specific date for
the operation and she was placed
on the waiting list. For this
reason, the woman appealed to
the Constitutional Court
alleging that her right to
health was violated by the
medical center.
The Constitutional Court
concluded that the problem in
terms of excessive waiting lists
is a constant in Social
Security. "These actions in the
provision of public service
violate the right to health, as
a fundamental right and violate
the constitutional principles of
public service," said the
resolution statement.
Social Security must define
reasonable waiting times for
treatments, as well as objective
criteria to specify the location
of a patient on waiting lists.
In order to follow up on
compliance with this ruling, the
Constitutional Chamber set a
public hearing on November 14th,
in the Supreme Court of Justice.
On that day, the authorities of
Social Security must present the
advances and actions developed.
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Was the public medical service
affected in your community due
to the strike? We
would like to know your thoughts
on this story. Send your
comments to news@amcostarica.com
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