“They didn’t hear our voices or didn’t want to hear”
Covid-19 pandemic makes the working conditions of health workers even worse. Health workers have struggled against physical, mental, and financial problems due to excessive hours and intense work. “We tried to make our voices to be heard. But they didn’t hear our voices or didn’t want to hear,” says Sevilay Yıldız is one of the health workers, who are on the point of exhausting, psychologically fade away and face financial difficulties.
ZEYNEP AKGÜL
Ankara- These days, health workers have concerns about their near future due to their excessive hours and intense work since the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak. “We face all broken parts of the system,” says Sevilay Yıldız, a health worker.
“We cannot hug or kiss our children”
“When we return from work, we cannot hug or kiss our children. We try to stay away from them. I couldn’t find any babysitters for my children so my parents look after them. I had to send them to the village because my parents are also in risk groups. We also have serious financial problems. 10 years ago, we got higher wages than other civil servants, but now we don’t. Our wage and the wage of cleaning crews are almost the same. My aim is not to despise the cleaning workers but we studied at university and were appointed as health workers after passing the KPSS (Selection Examination for Professional Posts in Public Organizations). When we retire, our salary will be 3600 Turkish liras.”
Health workers in Turkey have faced many problems and their problems have increased since the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak.
“All health workers receive different salaries. Supplementary payments are calculated differently for each of us. Our shifts are paid much lower. I work with COVID-19 patients. When one of our relatives is tested positive for Covid-19, we are not considered as a contact because we have to keep working. If our spouses are tested positive, we have to go to work and our spouses have to look after themselves and our children. We have no dream or hope anymore. We are exhausted. We don’t have serious problems in finding protective equipment as before but there is a need for qualified health workers now. We tried to make our voices to be heard. But they didn’t hear our voices or didn’t want to hear.”
“We need a law to protect health workers from violence”
Sevilay Yıldız tells us the demands of health workers;
“We demand a salary above the hunger limit. We demand equal pay for equal work. We need a law to protect health workers from violence. Covid-19 should be declared as an occupational disease for healthcare workers.”
The real name of the health worker is not used in the article.