WILLEMSTAD – Employees of the Analytisch Diagnostisch Centrum (ADC) in Otrobanda stopped working Thursday morning, gathering outside the facility to protest ongoing dissatisfaction over their collective labor agreement.
The action comes amid growing labor unrest within Curaçao's healthcare sector, with union CBV warning that similar protests could follow at other healthcare institutions.
CBV union representative Suares-Mathilda addressed ADC employees during the protest. She said workers have legitimate reasons for their dissatisfaction but stressed that any action must also take the continuity of healthcare into consideration.
She urged employees to remain calm and stay at the ADC premises during the action.
According to Èxtra, the immediate reason for the work stoppage is the collective labor agreement, or CLA, which employees have been awaiting for an extended period.
CBV says it has been raising concerns about working conditions and other problems within Curaçao's healthcare sector for approximately four years but believes insufficient action has been taken to address them.
The union said the problems at ADC are not isolated. Employees at the Curaçao Medical Center (CMC) also held a meeting during working hours last week over concerns surrounding their CLA.
CMC announced on August 24 that negotiations with CBV on a new collective labor agreement would resume. The hospital has said it wants to implement a first improvement in employment conditions starting in January 2027.
According to Suares-Mathilda, workers at several healthcare institutions face similar problems, raising the possibility of further labor actions elsewhere in the sector.
ADC serves as Curaçao's national laboratory and plays an important role in medical diagnostics and public healthcare.
It was not immediately clear to what extent Thursday morning's work stoppage affected patients, blood collection or other ADC services.