Health workers across Costa Rica are preparing for a nationwide strike tomorrow as problems with a new payroll system continue to leave some employees of the country’s public healthcare system with missing or incomplete salaries. Five unions representing workers at the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) have called for a 24-hour strike beginning at 6 a.m. tomorrow and continuing until 6 a.m. Friday.
The action covers hospitals, clinics and Ebais although unions say essential services will continue operating. The organizations are expected to provide more details today on which services could be affected. The dispute centers on problems that began after the CCSS introduced a new payroll module in July as part of its Integrated People Management System.
The system was intended to modernize how the CCSS manages payroll for its workforce of more than 65,000 employees. Instead, its introduction has been followed by reports of employees receiving partial salaries, missing salary components or, in some cases, not receiving expected payments.
In August, the CCSS acknowledged approximately 1,300 cases in which some component of an employee’s salary had not appeared correctly in payroll. At the time, the institution said the problems were being reviewed individually and described them as part of the stabilization process for the new system.
Nearly two months after it began handling payroll, however, unions say problems continue. They say affected employees include permanent and temporary workers, employees filling vacant positions, staff covering shifts for colleagues and workers temporarily serving in higher-level positions.
Some workers are still waiting for money owed from August, according to union representatives. Employees affected by the delays have described difficulty covering everyday expenses such as rent, food, transportation and loan payments. Union representatives say some workers have resorted to borrowing money, organizing raffles or receiving financial help from colleagues while waiting for their salaries to be corrected.
The unions say they tried to resolve the issue before calling the strike. Earlier this month, they asked the CCSS Board of Directors to intervene and requested additional resources for human resources departments handling payroll complaints. Union representatives also met with the CCSS’s personnel administration department on September 10.
They say those discussions failed to produce a plan that would guarantee complete and timely payment for all affected workers. The organizations subsequently announced the nationwide strike. The participating groups include unions representing nurses, healthcare workers and other CCSS employees.
They say the purpose of the strike is to pressure the institution to correct outstanding salary problems and establish a system capable of ensuring employees are paid accurately and on time. The unions have said emergency and other essential services will not be suspended. That distinction will be important for patients tomorrow.
Depending on participation, other appointments, procedures and non-emergency services at hospitals, clinics and Ebais could potentially be affected. More specific information on the services involved is expected before the strike begins. The payroll problems have generated protests before.
Workers at Hospital Calderón Guardia demonstrated in August over delayed payments, with some medical and surgical services affected during that action. An agreement was later reached involving hundreds of employee appointments that required payroll regularization. However, the broader problems surrounding the new system have continued.
The CCSS previously said the payroll difficulties did not threaten the overall payment process for its entire workforce and that the number of incidents was declining as SIPE stabilized. The current strike call suggests the issue remains unresolved for at least some employees.
For patients, the most important information will come today, when unions are expected to clarify which services could be disrupted and the CCSS is expected to outline contingency plans for. Unless by tomorrow an agreement is reached beforehand, the nationwide strike is scheduled to begin at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning.
