“We are striking against the contribution of 250 million euros that the government wants to recover. On the amount we agree but not on the way”, explains Sunday, November 13 on franceinfo François Blanchecotte, president of the union of biologists while the biology laboratories are on strike from Monday against the social security budget (the PLFSS). 95% of the laboratories have planned to strike at the call of the unions in the sector. “The government wants to reduce routine acts when we consider that in the exceptional situation of Covid-19, we must report on Covid-19 and not on the acts that doctors prescribe for us every day”protests the president of the union.
Liberal biologists engaged in a showdown with the government around a “plane stroke” of 250 million euros which is requested from them in the draft 2023 social security budget, welcomed on Friday a vote of the Senate which “opens the way to a negotiated solution”.
franceinfo: What are the reasons for this strike?
Francois Blanchecotte: We are striking against the contribution of 250 million euros that the government wants to recover. On the amount we agree but not on the way. The government wants to reduce routine acts when we consider that in the exceptional situation of Covid-19, we must report on Covid-19 and not on the acts that doctors prescribe for us every day. So from Monday, patients who come to the laboratories will find the doors closed. We will not accept any patients. In case of emergency: a prescription of the day with an urgent character, we can take care of it but everything else we will redirect them to hospitals and the public service.
Concretely, you agree to donate money to social security but you have the impression that the government will use the price of your actions?
Absolutely. All the laboratories – this is why we are in a unitary movement – will all be impacted by this drop which will obviously completely define our actions. This will have consequences for the laboratories which are in so-called medical desert areas and in which today we have few or no prescribers. We see that there are sometimes pharmacies that close and tomorrow it will be local laboratories when we have a territorial network that really allows us to take care of all patients, every day.
Can we say that you are engaging in a showdown with the government?
Absolutely. The movement is very hard. We will talk to each patient to explain how we strike and why we strike. We met all the health advisers from Matignon, from the Élysée. There is no meeting scheduled today, nor negotiations. We are also awaiting the results of the PLFSS. It should be noted that we are supported by all the health unions in France. I think that today we really touch on the professional activity. We have made savings for more than 10 years, more than 5 billion in savings. We are a very constrained profession and we sometimes give back hundreds of millions of euros every year. It is therefore very important today, when it has a lasting impact on our activity.
Can we head for an indefinite strike?
Absolutely. For the moment it’s gone for three days but it will be renewable depending on the progress we have or the negotiations. We are open to dialogue to find a compromise. We are also open to giving back these 250 million euros. The cards are therefore in the hands of the government.