Doctors' Strike Spreads

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000879 SIPDIS REF: KINSHASA 797 SIPDIS STATE FOR DRL/IL-MHARPOLE LABOR FOR DOL/ILAB-TFAULKNER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB ECON PGOV SOCI CG SUBJECT: Doctors' Strike Spreads ¶1. (U) Doctor's union members and health employees of Kinshasa's public hospitals have decided to continue and intensify their strike, begun on May 8 (reftel). They say that the GDRC has not made sufficient efforts to respond to their demands. ¶2. (U) On May 29, SYNAMED, the union that represents the more than 1000 doctors working in Kinshasa's eleven public hospitals, met to evaluate the situation following three weeks of limiting service to only emergency cases. Dr. Mankoy Badjoko, SYNAMED Executive Secretary, announced that effective May 29 the union SIPDIS would step up its strike by stopping service in most public hospitals. Two hospitals will provide minimum services on a rotating daily basis, to include accepting emergency cases. The patients who entered the public hospitals before the strike began will continue to be treated. ¶3. (U) SYNAMED says that the next step will be provision of minimum services on only a one-day-per- week basis, beginning June 5, if their demands still have not been met by that time. The union has threatened an even more drastic strike and speculation is that there will be a complete work stoppage in Kinshasa's public hospitals if the GDRC does not eventually accede to the union's requests.