He received an end of inadmissibility: dispatched to Guadeloupe to negotiate with the “suspended”, these non-vaccinated caregivers dismissed from their post without pay for more than a year, the director of the cabinet of the Minister Delegate for Overseas acknowledged, Friday, October 14, that he had failed to fulfill his mission.
Unions of staff and collectives of “suspended” rejected the “out of crisis” suggested by Joël Mathurin. Are concerned, according to the ministry, 221 carers identified by the Regional Health Agency, of which 93 worked at the CHU of Guadeloupe – they would be 160 at the hospital in Martinique, a hundred hospital workers and liberals in Guyana. In Pointe-à-Pitre, Jean-François Carenco’s office proposed a “exceptional starting plan”, by means of increased contractual terminations. He offered to triple severance pay, “at least 40,000 euros”to consider “conversions”. Early retirements, derogatory, were also on the table.
But the staff stick to one requirement, their reintegration, through regular PCR tests and respect for barrier gestures. With 50% of the population and 80% of caregivers vaccinated (compared to 85% and 99% respectively in France), Guadeloupe, like Martinique and Guyana, displays its strong specificity. In the department, the firefighters, 60% unvaccinated, still work, within the framework of a strict health protocol.
“A disaster of misunderstanding”
Covid-19 and the vaccination issue were at the heart of the violent demonstrations which shook the island in November 2021. Against a backdrop of social crisis, the health subject also weighed heavily in the exceptional scores achieved by La France insoumise (LFI ) and the National Rally in the overseas territories during the last presidential and legislative elections. “This issue is a strong political marker. Overseas, no deputy from the presidential majority has been elected, the government cannot ignore this political mistrust,” recalls the deputy (Freedoms, independents, overseas and territories) Olivier Serva who, counting the liberal nurses and the medico-social sector, evokes 1,500 people concerned in Guadeloupe.
Minister Jean-François Carenco had repeated before the law commission of the National Assembly, on September 28, to want “build a solution”. “We are talking about less than 200 people if we only take employees. It’s not a disaster, but it’s a disaster of misunderstanding on both sides., he admitted. The fact remains that all the health authorities – Scientific Council, High Authority for Health, Academy of Medicine – have so far refused to allow caregivers to derogate from the vaccination obligation. The “suspended” would be 2,000 to 3,000 nationally.
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