In Cameroon, the national president of the Union of Staff of health sector establishments companies affirms that “the government, so far, has not made the commitments that could allow the strike to stop” among the agents in public hospitals.
Every day, striking health personnel gather on the esplanade in front of the Ministry of Health in Yaoundé. As a result of the partial strike, which began on May 22nd, 2023, patients face longer waiting times in public hospitals. The workers go on strike from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. each day and provide a minimum level of service.
A third week of mobilization was marked by the arrest on June 5th of around twenty strikers by the police, released the same evening after intervention by the prefect of Mfoundi. The unions claim that these arrests did not discourage the strikers, on the contrary.
On Tuesday, June 6th, the union representatives were received by the Secretary General of the Prime Minister who told them to wait for the return of the head of government to define a timetable but the strikers believe they have already waited too long. Their demands have been made since last year. They are calling for the regularization of “temporary” workers as a priority: 60% of the workforce according to the unions, i.e. 27,000 health workers in Cameroon, who sometimes work for several years without a fixed salary, without a contract, and rights to social benefits.