In May, two events emerged that should have raised alarms for everyone concerned with—or dependent on—the Mendoza government’s ability to guarantee the right to health and education for its population.
On May 11, two and a half months after the start of the 2023 school year, the newspaper MDZ reported that there were 100 open calls to fill primary school substitute teaching positions. The most striking case was at School 4-032 Nuestra Señora de las Nieves, which had reached its 25th attempt to fill a vacancy at the time of publication.
The second event was the resignation of seven neonatologists from Lagomaggiore Hospital, following a trend of mass resignations among healthcare professionals. Last year, 50 anesthesiologists left various public hospitals, and 100 healthcare workers resigned from Notti Hospital.
Journalists covering these cases consulted people linked to the affected institutions to understand the reasons behind the shortage of education and healthcare professionals. In both cases, low salaries were cited as a key factor. These events coincide with ongoing judicial workers’ strikes and protests organized by the Autonomous State Workers’ Union (SITEA), all driven by the same demand.
Given this scenario, it is crucial to analyze how the salaries of Mendoza’s public sector workers have evolved in recent years, both in relation to price increases and compared to wages in the rest of the country. Additionally, we find it necessary to complement this study with an analysis of the province’s payment capacity, to assess the short- and medium-term possibilities of reversing this situation.
See the full report here.