Shed immediate and full light on the real contractual and economic situation of the doctors of Cuban nationality currently serving at the Provincial Health Authorities (ASP) of the Calabria Region. This is the objective of the written question presented to the president of the Regional Council by the regional councilor Francesco De Cicco, of the Southern Democrats Progressive Council Group.
The matter originates from the Framework Agreement signed on 17 August 2022 between the then Acta Commissioner for the recovery from the healthcare deficit and the Cuban state commercial company Commercializadora de Servicios Médicos Cubanos SA (CSMC SA). This agreement was stipulated to address the very serious and urgent shortage of medical personnel in the Calabrian structures – in particular in the emergency areas -, caused by years of blocking of turnover and also highlighted by sentence no. 168/2021 of the Constitutional Court.
Doubts about remuneration and brokerage risk
As highlighted in the question filed with the Secretariat of the Assembly, against an economic commitment supported by the Calabrian ASPs amounting to over 4,000 euros per month for each doctor, according to recent press reports, Cuban professionals would be paid a real sum of only 1,200 euros per month. The remaining and large portion of the compensation would instead be retained by third parties. «Such a scheme – we read in the question – risks configuring a form of intermediation of work activity destined to negatively impact the dignity of the professional, derogating from the constitutional principles regarding contractual fairness and fair remuneration. Furthermore, already in the original text of the 2022 Framework Agreement, the analytical costs of the services and the sums to be allocated directly to the company and workers were not clearly defined.»
Questions addressed to the Regional Council
In light of these elements, with the question presented, councilor Francesco De Cicco formally asks the regional executive to clarify whether they were already aware, or still are, of the real economic condition faced by Caribbean health workers operating in the area. At the same time, the Council is urged to clarify whether it intends to proceed with the renewal or extension of the conventional agreement with CSMC SA should these rumors be confirmed, specifying which actions and emergency acts the Region intends to implement to eliminate any form of contractual distortion and guarantee full economic and professional protection of the doctors involved.