“You should go to Feinmann therapy, that way you will be happier,” he advised. Norma Lezanasecretary of the Garrahan Hospital Workers Association, to Eduardo Feinmann. The journalist replied: “I’m super happy,” but the delegate finished: “You can’t tell, let them know to your face.” Faced with such a response, the driver nodded: “Well, okay, he tamed me.” This is how the report that Feinmann developed in his A24 cycle about the complaints of the Garrahan Hospital employees ended.
Workers of the Dr. Juan P. Garrahan Children’s Hospital Since mid-2025, they have had an open dispute with the national State that combined strikes, assemblies, occupations and a public fight over salaries and working conditions. The epicenter of the conflict was the occupation of the Medical Directorate by personnel from unions and professional associations, a pressure measure that became visible on October 31 and which, according to the protagonists, sought to reverse salary discounts applied after days of strike.
He workers’ claim It has several legs: requests for real salary recomposition, complaints of sustained loss of purchasing power – especially among residents and technical staff – and rejection of discounts and disciplinary sanctions that the authorities would have applied after the strikes. Union representatives warned that the discounts for adhering to forceful measures reached amounts that some even described as “excessive”, in cases that they reported exceeded hundreds of thousands of pesos for complete teams.
The organizations that led the protests include the Association of Professionals and Technicians (APyT) and the Association of State Workers (ATE), among other internal and support groups. The unions maintain that, in addition to the salary adjustment, there are administrative measures and controls, such as the implementation of biometric presenteeism systems, which are interpreted as attempts to Disciplining of the campus and institutional “emptying”. From the management of the hospital and the government, meanwhile, sectors of the staff were held responsible for disorganizing shifts and services during the force measures.
In this context of escalation, the national government announced at the beginning of November a salary increase for staff. An increase of around 60% in the basic allocation of hospital staff was reported, a measure that the Executive presented as a response to “normalize” the situation and restore part of the assets. For the unions, the announcement came after months of struggle and pressure but did not immediately neutralize all demands: claims persist for discounts already made, reparations for possible sanctions and guarantees on the sustainability of the center’s financing.
The conflict is part of a larger dispute between broad sectors of public health over budget cuts and administrative reorganization that began during 2025. Different sources and journalistic reports documented resignations of professionals, reduction of resources and confrontations between authorities and workers. These events fueled the perception, among unions, of an adjustment policy that directly affects highly complex pediatric care. This context explains why the Garrahan conflict transcended the local level and called for marches and support from other sectors.
Throughout the conflict, The protests included rallies in Plaza de Mayo and public calls for a “pediatric emergency law.” Union leaders demanded not only immediate salary increases, but also long-term budget guarantees for the operation of critical services (operating rooms, hemotherapy, pediatric oncology, transplants). For their part, the government and the hospital leadership defended the legitimacy of the administrative measures adopted and maintained that transfers and assignments must be accompanied by “order and efficiency” in institutional management.
The combination of prolonged stoppagesstaff cuts and discussions about financing generate specific operational risks that, according to specialists consulted by different media, end up affecting the most vulnerable patients. For the workers, the dispute is also about preserving the quality of care of a hospital that cares for hundreds of thousands of patients a year and has national reference services.
In addition to the amount of the increase and its transfer to salary settlement, the points that remain open are restitution or compensation for discounts already made, the lifting of disciplinary sanctions and the definition of a stable budget scheme that prevents the recurrence of the conflict. The dialogue remains intermittent and with official mediation, but written agreements and independent control mechanisms will be required to guarantee continuity of care and decent working conditions.
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