https://themilitant.com/2019/12/14/french-public-hospital-workers-protest-government-cutbacks/
French public hospital workers protest government cutbacks
By Nat London
Vol. 83/No. 47
December 23, 2019
PARIS — Some 10,000 public hospital workers conducted a one-day strike
and march here Nov. 14 to defend the country’s public hospitals. For the
first time, members of all medical professions — from nursing assistants
to doctors — acted together. Similar protests took place in many cities.
Budget cutting has created what many people call “medical deserts,”
especially in rural areas, midwife Caroline Raquin told the Militant.
She pointed to the example of the number of maternity centers that have
been closed. “There were 1,200 such centers in 1970,” she said. “Now
there are only 540.”
Hospitals in Paris and other large cities are beginning to be affected
as well. Five- to seven-hour waiting time is now common in public
hospital emergency rooms here, and there are two- to three-month delays
to see a specialist. The cutbacks have made it clear the government
favors private, for-profit clinics.
Over 1 million people work in public hospitals in France. A second day
of demonstrations has been called for Dec. 17.
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In This Issue
Front Page Articles •Strikers hang tough in battle against Asarco
•NATO summit reflects crisis of imperialist world ‘order’
•Welcome new readers! Help get out books, the ‘Militant’
•See revolutionary Cuba for yourself: Join International May Day brigade!
•‘Militant’ sends holiday greetings to workers behind prison walls
•US gov’t weighs sending more troops into its Mideast wars
Feature Articles •Overseas Chinese and China’s growing weight in world
politics
Also In This Issue •US life expectancy declines for three years in a row
•NY event discusses ‘Thomas Sankara’s Legacy Today’
•Mass protest advances Hong Kong political rights fight
•French protests say ‘Hands off our pensions’!
•Protest cop killing of Kumanjayi Walker!
•Fall Campaign to sell Militant subscriptions and books. Oct. 5 - Dec.
10 (Final chart)
•Socialist Workers Party Fund Drive. Oct. 5 – Dec. 10 (Final chart)
On the Picket Line •Virginia transit workers strike for equal pay,
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25, 50 and 75 years ago
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Carl Sagan
“Who is more humble? The scientist who looks at the universe with an open mind
and accepts whatever the universe has to teach us, or somebody who says
everything in this book must be considered the literal truth and never mind the
fallibility of all the human beings involved?”
― Carl Sagan
