Doctors shave heads in protest against delay in pay rise
Doctors and nurses shaved their heads at Sukhbaatar Square on the fifth day of their sit-in after a wage raise negotiation with Labor Minister S.Chinzorig didn’t go as planned.
Healthcare workers have been demanding the government to increase their wage by 50 percent since last year. Frustrated with the government’s slow progress, they have been demonstrating since May 11. People working in the education, science, labor, and arts and culture have joined the protest to get their wages raised as well.
On Tuesday, some of the protesters met with Minister S.Chinzorig to discuss the Tripartite Agreement on Labor and Society. When they failed to reach an agreement with the minister, the protesters decided to take their protest up a notch by shaving their heads outside the State Palace in Sukhbaatar Square on the following day, according to Head of the Mongolian Health Workers’ Trade Union B.Myagmar.
It was a shocking display as the members who participated in the meeting sat in a row while people wearing masks with faces of politicians, including Minister of Health D.Sarangerel, Ulaanbaatar Mayor S.Batbold and Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh, shaved their heads.
“These people aren’t sitting here because they have nothing better to do than risking their health in the strong wind of spring. They’re really exhausted and becoming weary. Even if they collapse, they’d rather lose consciousness here at the square,” stated Head of the Mongolian Science Workers’ Trade Union N.Bayasgalan.
“Our demands are falling on deaf ears. The hardworking public was anticipating good results from yesterday’s negotiation of the Tripartite Agreement on Labor and Society as it was their last hope of getting a better salary, but their hopes were shattered. There is no more renegotiation. You can’t contain us with empty lies like ‘we can negotiate’ or ‘we’re researching possible options’. We will not end our protest – we will take stronger countermeasures if necessary.”
At Thursday’s press conference, President of the Confederation of Mongolian Trade Unions Kh.Amgalanbaatar affirmed that the negotiation of the tripartite agreement began on May 1 but was withheld for 15 days as the government needed to discuss the issue of raising wages with the International Monetary Fund.
“When the negotiation restarted on May 15, the government hadn’t reached any conclusion. Hence, the Confederation of Mongolian Trade Unions decided at yesterday’s general board meeting to continue to demand the government to increase wages of state workers by no less than 50 percent by the second quarter of this year. We’re resolved to begin a collective labor dispute if we don’t get a response by May 21 or a negotiation session is reopened,” he announced.
Kh.Amgalanbaatar told the press that 36 member organizations of the confederation have all agreed to this decision.
Minister S.Chinzorig sent a formal letter to Kh.Amgalanbaatar on May 17 regarding his position on the matter.
It read, “It’s regretful that some representatives of your side left the joint negotiation session (held on May 16) midway by violating protocol and that one side is acting compulsively. I’d like to remind that such acts could cause potential delay in the negotiation process.”
“Both sides need to conduct joint studies and make necessary calculations if we want to resume our negotiation for raising wages of state workers. Please send your propositions for increasing state workers’ wages. I’d like to once again propose that we resolved this issue through discussion and mutual understanding, not through demonstrations and sit-ins.”