Hundreds of auxiliary staff at a top Shanghai hospital went on strike yesterday, demanding a pay rise and full social welfare insurance.
On the mainland, such staff - known as care workers - do most of the cleaning and basic patient care, leaving medical matters to nurses. They are often managed by hospitals through a subcontractor and care for patients whose family members cannot attend the hospital, earning about 40 to 80 yuan (HK$48 to HK$97) a day.
The strikers started to gather in a passageway leading to the emergency department at the Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai's Jiaotong University Medical School at about 7am. No one performed their normal duties, such as cleaning toilets and sending patients to operating rooms and medical examinations, the hospital said.
The nearly-500 care workers at the hospital are employed by a private subcontractor, Shanghai Jichen Hygiene and Logistics Service, set up in 2000 with investment from the Shanghai Health Department Logistics Service Centre.
Most of those on strike are responsible for cleaning, transporting patients and delivering meals. A circular outlining their demands said they had only seven days off a month, no annual leave, and demanded a pay rise. It also said they had to do the work of two people at weekends, with no extra pay.
They left the passageway after 10am to negotiate with their employer.
