00:00And we go now to Chile as civil servants are outraged with a bail that could modify the working conditions that regulate the use of medical leave after the scandal over the misuse of leaves of absence that was uncovered in the country.
00:15From Santiago de Chile, Paula Dracnic with the report.
00:20They went out to protest in front of the headquarters of the same government they support.
00:23That's the contradiction, that's why what was going to be a public sector strike finally turned into just a bander as though, but not for that reason, with less rage.
00:32The fact is that public workers will be the most affected by the bill that intends to change the system of medical leave of absence.
00:41This effectively puts at risk, also the approach to absenteeism, and presenteeism.
00:46Why do we mention this?
00:47Because, by affecting the workers' remuneration, what will happen in the end, is that our colleagues will work sick.
00:54This criminalizes illness, and this can finally translate into a risk for the quality of care, and also into an increase in work-related accidents.
01:02The scandal uncovered by the National Comptroller's Office, when it discovered that more than 13,000 public employees were using medical leave to travel abroad or engage in other activities, had its consequences.
01:17It was President Boric himself who introduced the bill to modify the operation of the Work and Capacity Subsidy, known as SIL.
01:22Currently we have been able to observe that there is a populism regarding the vulnerability of public workers to discredit us with respect to our work, when the percentage that makes or misuses this acquired right is very low, in relation to the total number of state workers.
01:44The bill even contemplates imprisonment for those who make use of medical leave without being sick, homologates the conditions for private and public workers, establishes a new latency period for the payment of salary for medical leave, adjusts the number of days for declaring health incompatible with the position,
02:03and gives even more supervisory powers to the company, a body that, together with external doctors, evaluates the workers' diagnosis and the indication of rest.
02:20Today we are condemned, and they want to punish practically, all the workers in the country.
02:25Well, through the cut we have been working on, we have asked the government to remove the urgency or the extreme urgency,
02:31and that we can make constructive proposals, not to go backwards, but to move forward in terms of social protection.
02:45However, trade unionists are suspicious and accuse the government of interventionism in order to reduce the state,
02:50punishing its workers and saving money by questioning their medical leave.
02:54The figures are clear, the fiscal savings, if the project is approved, represent billions of dollars annually.
03:01It is not only the bill against medical leave that affects our work, it is also the famous fiscal rule.
03:17Many on the right and the left defend this famous fiscal rule that today has us with more than six health services
03:22that do not have money to make it to the end of the year.
03:25The bill was introduced in July of this year, and is advancing in Congress as rarely before.
03:35The repudiation of the use of false medical licenses was widespread.
03:39Will the innocent pay for the sins of the guilty?
03:41From now on, you have been crushed in phone to appear.
03:43Carolina Sandovali, Paola Dr continuar, TeleSUR, Chile.
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