The email, which we were able to obtain, specifies that this decision is independent of the HUB and that it follows an inspection of the services of the National Social Security Office (ONSS). It is indicated that students are no longer being paid, already since March, information of which they were not aware until now. “It’s shameful. For a month we worked without knowing that we would not be paid.” testifies a group of students in their final year of medicine. “Everyone is shocked”they add.
If this announcement arouses great incomprehension, its communication was also considered quite brutal by the students. The information was in fact first transmitted to UMons students this Wednesday. After several requests, the ULB students, in turn, learned the news a day later.
gull “It’s a recurring and difficult subject”
Medical students without pay for months: “The hospitals are running partly thanks to us and some are still not paid”
At the ULB, mandatory guards
For ULB medical students, it is obligatory to carry out a minimum of 30 shifts during their internships. These guards, who are in addition to particularly busy weeks, were until now paid, in the form of expenses.“ They were paid around 35 euros (per 24-hour shift, Editor’s note) during the week and 55 euros on the weekend”we are told. An amount already considered derisory by those mainly concerned. “This amount is already so ridiculous, it’s shameful to cut it from us. “Some students are really in need and were really counting on this money.” explain the students. “There is no longer any respect, any more recognition for our work.”
gull “Providing 24-hour guard duty without being paid is beyond belief”
This payment is, however, based on “a tradition”, as Dr Frédéric Vandergheynst, academic director of teaching at the HUB, already explained to us last October.. “There is in reality no contractual agreement between us and the studentss, but that obviously doesn’t mean we’re going to stop paying studentsthe professor then declared. In recent months, students had already complained about the slowness of these payments, a situation which was nevertheless subsequently regularized.
Please note that this does not concern UCLouvain students, they are not paid because guards are not obligatory in their courses.
The HUB in the NSSO’s sights?
For Ethan Rigaux, coordinator of the ULB Student Council, this payment stoppage, however, raises another problem. “In my opinion, the ONSS considers that this payment is not legal. We do not in fact have a contract or an internship agreement. But instead of regularizing the situation to continue paying us, the HUB chose to stop paying the students”, he laments.
“Two out of three students will be refused”: the medical exam, “an unfair obstacle to access to health studies”
On the HUB side, communication remains very limited. The hospital asserts, however, that this decision results solely from a control carried out by the NSSO. When contacted, the ONSS was also discreet. “We are not used to communicating on this type of issue.”indicates one of the spokespersons. For the FPS Employment, we affirm that the guards of medical students are a subject “recurring and difficult“. The institution specifies, however, that if a complaint has been filed, it is required to respect the confidentiality of the information.
Towards a boycott of the guards?
“The payment of these guards was a way of gaining acceptance of a system which was not acceptable in any case. Providing 24-hour on-call duty without being paid is beyond belief“continues Ethan Rigaux.
For some, the situation must now absolutely change. Protest movements, or even a boycott of guards, could now emerge in hospitals in the coming weeks. For students in their final years, the determination is now clear. “We will not let this pass, we will fight for the next interns”we are told.
