“Nurses have had enough" Labor heterogeneity and conflicts in Nursing Union

Abstract

In this paper we will analyze the labor conflict of nurses in the city of La Plata between March 2020 and March 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. This crisis put health personnel at the center of the scene, especially those in charge of care tasks. However, shortcomings in the working conditions of this group were also evident, both in the public and private sectors. We will argue that the heterogeneity of the health system has an impact on the constitution of demands and union organizations, which are heterogeneous even in the same city. Likewise, we will show that other forms of collective organization were formed during the pandemic, outside the unions that traditionally represented nursing. We will analyze the data built in the PISAC-COVID research project "Nursing and professional health care during the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic"; specifically, we will analyze the press archive on nursing in the La Plata.