CGTG spokesperson Marceline Dessout (right) speaks to the media outside the hospital. (Robert Luckock photo).
MARIGOT—Hospital workers striking against mandatory vaccination and the health pass are appealing to the population to come out in large numbers at the hospital entrance on Monday, September 27, to support them. The strike is entering its second week.
At a press conference on site, Confederation General des Travailleurs de Guadeloupe (CGTG) spokesperson Marceline Dessout said, quoting hospital director Marie-Antoinette Lampis, that “the law is the law” and she Lampis has to apply the law when it comes to the vaccination mandate for the hospital.
But Dessout argued the hospital director in Guadeloupe took it on his own responsibility to not apply the law immediately because he needed all the hospital staff to be fully functioning to prioritise care for the sick. The Louis-Constant Fleming Hospital director denied the request for the same flexibility.
“We have the rights to strike but messages are coming out from the director to government, the Préfecture and the Gendarmerie, to seemingly treat us in a hostile way which we don’t appreciate,” said Dessout. “This morning some of the protestors at the lower access were harassed and had their stands and belongings moved and told they were stopping deliveries coming in. We had a meeting with the director and told her that whoever said we were stopping deliveries, it was completely untrue.
“I want to be clear; we are not stopping deliveries; we know medicines and supplies have to be delivered and the sick need to access the hospital. If they cannot walk in, we let them pass. The public and private ambulances have the right to pass through.
“We are asking the population to make a sacrifice, come out on Monday and stand with us. We need you to help us make an important impact on this situation.”
Unvaccinated employees face suspension from their job, loss of benefits, and no recourse to unemployment benefit. In the meantime, the hospital is assessing the numbers of vaccinated staff to determine its operational capability as from October 15. So far, the management is “assuring the continuity of care” as stated in its press release on Thursday. About 50 per cent of the 400 hospital workers are against the vaccine mandate, according to the strikers.
