Cuba to Increase Wages for Doctors

Cuba to Increase Wages for Doctors

December 25, 2013

Jimmy Roque Martinez



HAVANA TIMES – A much-announced wage increase will reach the pockets of

Cuban health professionals this coming January, sources that prefer to

remain anonymous told HT. There had been talk of this for about a year.



The opinions surrounding this rumor have been quite varied. Some didn't

believe it. Others thought it could happen, but that the salary increase

would be next to insignificant. A few optimists not only believed the

news to be true but were also convinced it would be a considerable wage

increase.



The news gained some impetus this past Monday, as the payroll

adjustments in the country's health centers have begun. The wage

increase is imminent and has been confirmed by at least two health

sector officials to Havana Times.



One of the sources reported that the Ministry of Health hasn't yet

announced how much salaries will be raised by (apparently, it won't be

the same amount for everyone).



The adjustments will be made on the basis of the wage scale, beginning

with medical doctors, who are to receive a 100 percent basic wage increase.



The salaries health professionals are to be paid for the month of

December in January will reportedly already include the raise.



The news has been very well received by workers in the sector who, like

education professionals, have practically no other income beyond their

salaries (i.e. opportunities to misappropriate State resources or

receive incentives). It is hoped a wage increase will also be seen for

teachers in the not so far off future.



"It isn't much, because, in addition to food, one has to buy other

things, like soap and detergent, but it's better than nothing," a

hospital technician stated. A janitor said that "it's very positive and

I'm very happy, but they're going to expect more of us now."



A doctor commented she thought it was a very encouraging development and

that the salaries of Cuban health professionals working in missions in

Venezuela had also been raised. "We're heading in the right direction,"

she stressed.



It is also rumored that the salaries of Cuban doctors working in the

South American nation will get an additional 100 Cuban Convertible Pesos

(CUC), the so-called "frozen account."



According to figures just presented to the Cuban parliament, spending in

State subsidized sectors will experience a 2 percent increase in 2014,

22 percent of which will be accounted for by increased spending in

public health. Most probably, this increase in State spending is related

to the current wage reform.



That said, salaries will continue to be wholly inadequate in terms of

satisfying the basic needs of the average Cuban, as the prices of basic

products, particularly food, continue to rise at a rate higher than that

of wages.



It is worth recalling that the medical services Cuba has been offering

abroad have brought in large sums of money into the country and that, in

view of this, health sector employees have long been demanding better

payment for their work.



Source: "Cuba to Increase Wages for Doctors - Havana Times.org" -

http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=100821