Dr. Alessandro Ganci, advisor to the Superior Office of the Ministry of Health (Minsa), addressed the issue of laboratory technical assistants, who have warned of a possible work stoppage scheduled for April 4 to demand payment corresponding to the new adjustment salary they should receive in the first quarter of this year.
Ganci explained that during the 2015-2016 government, he negotiated with large medical groups and associations. “In that negotiation, a series of degrees were established that had to do with the academic subject; grade 3 where they were cataloged (laboratory technical assistants) corresponded where they had less than 3 years of studies or had not done formal studies in institutes or universities, they wanted grade 4 which corresponds to technicians who have completed university studies at least least 3 years,” he explained.
He added that they made the proper inquiries to the university and said that the credits of these technicians were equivalent to what they offered in the three-year courses and, therefore, they automatically entered the fourth category.
The Third Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) indicated that an academic degree could not be equated with professional experience and the solution was to make a salary equivalence and not a degree to those who demonstrated with a university exam that they had professional sufficiency.
He assured that the Minsa has already been paying a good part of them, and others are pending due to document issues.
It should be noted that members of the National Association of Clinical Laboratory Assistants and Auxiliaries (ANAALAC) explained that they have not received the payment corresponding to the new salary adjustment that they should have received in the first quarter of this year, and if the National Government will decree a work stoppage.
Luis Bonilla, spokesman for the group, explained that “the salary that they have been fighting for two years should be B/.925.00 as base salary, B/.80.00 on shift, B/.100.00 for change of category, B/.400 in productivity bonuses.
Bonilla recalled that “since 2005 there is an agreement given by the Social Security Fund, the Ministry of Health (Minsa) and CONAGREPROTSA (National Coordinator of Health Professionals and Technicians Guild) for 6 hours, however, there are still colleagues who are working 8 hours.
“We hope to receive positive responses before March 31 because otherwise we will declare a strike,” he stressed.
