Protesters Douse French Health Ministry with Red Paint
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - French protesters on Saturday doused the country’s health ministry with red paint, to symbolize the blood of those who died from COVID-19 and to demonstrate against poor working conditions for public sector health care workers.
“For years, health workers have been alerting us to the fact they don’t have enough resources with regards to staff, beds and equipment to be able to allow us to look after people decently,” Aurelie Trouve, a spokeswoman for the ‘Attac’ activist group which was behind the protest, told Reuters.
They also placed a giant, medal-shaped banner dubbed ‘Medal of Contempt’ on the steps of the French health ministry, to highlight what they said was the government’s failure to listen to the concerns of health care workers.
President Emmanuel Macron’s government has decided to pay a $1,676 bonus to public sector health care workers, in recognition of their role during the coronavirus outbreak.
Yet many in the sector feel the government should do more for them, and violence broke out this week at another protest held by health care workers in Paris.