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PSLINK leads PSI Precarious Work Forum in Davao
PSLINK led the conduct of the Awareness-Raising Forum on Precarious Work in the Philippine Health Sector held in Brokenshire Bahay Alumni, Madapo Hills, Davao City on September 20, 2012.
The forum was organized to:
- Raise the awareness of health workers from both the public and private sectors on precarious work and its impacts on health services;
- Elicit feedback from health workers about their experiences in precarious work arrangements as well as their policy recommendations;
- Facilitate organizing trade unions in the health sector; and
- Develop an action plan to address precarious work in the health sector
Dr. Leah Samaco-Paquiz representing ANG NARS-PSLINK and one of the resource speakers during the forum, explained what false volunteerism is, its different forms, and how it is a form of precarious work in the nursing sector.
She urged nurse participants to unite together in order to restore dignity to the nursing profession.
PSLINK VRC joins PSI Precarious Work forum in Tacloban
PSLINK Visayas Regional Council participated in the PSI Precarious Work in the Health Sector public forum organized in Ritz Tower, Tacloban City on September 14, 2012.
TUs and CSO Joint Statement on DOH Proposed Guidelines on Nurse Volunteerism
Trade Unions and Civil Society Joint Statement on the
DOH Proposed Guidelines on Nurse Volunteerism
We, trade unions and civil society organizations, are extremely alarmed by the efforts of the Department of Health (DOH) to develop guidelines that would institutionalize implementation of nurse volunteerism in hospitals and other health facilities. We believe that this is not the proper time to initiate such a proposal. In fact, this is probably the WORST time to push for such guidelines. At a time of increasing poverty and high unemployment among our young nurses, growing contractualization or precariousness of jobs in the health sector, massive privatization and commercialization of health services, and unabated outmigration of nurses, drawing up guidelines to institutionalize volunteerism is utterly illogical and should not be the priority of the DOH. Policy goals of the DOH must support and contribute to the labor market and social equity goals and employment generation program of the current Aquino administration.
We can talk about setting up guidelines for volunteerism–one that is based on commitment and conviction and provides for “an enabling and empowering environment both on the part of the beneficiary receiving and the volunteer” as stated in the Republic Act No. 9418 or otherwise known as the Volunteer Act of 2007–once we have taken concrete and effective steps to address the huge number of young nurses who can’t find regular jobs.
Unless we resolve unemployment and lack of job security, it would be difficult to ensure that volunteerism will take place in good faith as many of our nurses will always be desperate and vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. It is primarily this desperation among young nurses to grab whatever opportunity they can find (hoping it would eventually lead them towards being hired for regular nursing positions) which helps perpetuate false volunteerism and unethical recruitment of nurses in the first place. Institutionalizing volunteerism AT THIS TIME without addressing the UNDERLYING PROBLEMS will NOT only NOT SOLVE the problem but actually WORSEN the problem since those already benefiting from false volunteerism arrangements will now be able to do it legally thanks in no small way to the guidelines of the DOH.
It’s obvious that our health sector is facing bigger issues at present. And the DOH has very limited resources to work with. Instead of coming up with a NEW policy that is highly contentious and potentially disastrous to the health sector (and in fact, to the entire labor sector), why not focus on implementing existing policies already. Why not implement Salary Grade 15 for our nurses? Why not implement the provisions of the Magna Carta for Public Health Workers or develop an affirmative action program for the progressive implementation of the law? These policies would contribute a lot in addressing poverty and unemployment in the nursing sector if they were fully implemented.
The DOH has also issued Memorandum No. 2011-0238 which sought to terminate “all Nurse Volunteer Programs, Volunteer Training Programs for Nurses, and all similar or related programs in all DOH-retained hospitals.” A year has passed since its adoption and yet exploitative volunteer programs and false trainings continue to persist. What has the DOH done since after the issuance of the said memorandum? Have erring hospitals been penalized? Has the DOH established a monitoring system to ensure that the memorandum is being implemented? Has a comprehensive evaluation been done to assess the effectiveness of the policy? And why, just a year after its issuance, is the DOH suddenly hell-bent on invalidating itself (and virtually shooting itself in the foot) by proposing guidelines to institutionalize false volunteerism in all public and private health facilities? Considering all these, we can’t help but question the real agenda of the DOH in hastily pushing for the said guidelines.
In addition, a number of programs for nurses have been implemented through the years, such as the NARS (Nurses Assigned in Rural Service) program initiated under Arroyo’s term and the Registered Nurses for Health Enhancement and Local Service (RN Heals) Program under the current Aquino administration. Can we evaluate and monitor these programs (which we have been very critical of as well) first before we embark on yet another new program for our nurses? It seems that the DOH is pushing for new policies without properly assessing its previous policies. Perhaps by conducting a comprehensive assessment of its policies and programs,the DOH will realize that its efforts to push for volunteerism guidelines are clearly misguided and reckless. Maybe this would also convince the DOH that only regular jobs and just pay will address our problems, not short-term solutions that promote our nurses as cheap labor.
We see no urgency to come up with guidelines on volunteerism since the Filipino’s bayanihan spirit is very much alive and thriving. Just take for instance the volunteers (which included health workers) who helped victims during the past typhoons and floods. A lot of nurses also continue to lead and participate in medical missions and other community service activities. Volunteer opportunities for our nurses are a plenty in our country. We, trade unions and civil society organizations in the health sector would understand best the true sense of volunteerism as many of our campaigns, advocacies and services are driven by countless volunteers who contribute their time, effort and resources to protect the rights and welfare of nurses and other health workers.
Genuine volunteerism from the heart will not be hampered by lack of guidelines. What we do need urgently at this point are strong policies and mechanisms to ensure that DECENT WORK for all nurses are defended and promoted. What we need is for the current Aquino administration to recognize the fact that our nurses continue to be exploited through false volunteerism practices, contractual and other precarious work arrangements. What we need is for the DOH and the government to step up and do the following:
1. Implement existing laws and policies like the Nursing Act of 2002 (Republic Act No. 9173), Magna Carta for Public Health Workers (Republic Act No. 7305) and the DOH Memorandum No. 0238 by developing an affirmative action program to progressively implement and fund these mandates through incremental budget allocation;
2. Conduct comprehensive monitoring and evaluation of NARS, RN Heals and other similar programs with the participation of trade unions and civil society organizations;
3. Review and assess implementation of DOH Memorandum No. 0238 and see how this can be expanded to cover more hospitals and other health facilities in both the private and public sectors;
4. Penalize hospitals and health facilities employing false nurse trainings and exploitative nurse volunteer schemes;
5. Support the passage of House Bill No. 5641: “An Act Prohibiting Exploitative Volunteerism of Nurses in the Health Care System”;
6. Prioritize creation of regular nursing positions and putting an end to false volunteerism, contractualization and other precarious working arrangements in the health sector;
7. Promote ethical recruitment and implement the WHO Global Code of Practice; and
8. Allocate adequate budget to fund the aforementioned initiatives
By doing all these, not only will we be able to improve the quality of lives of our health workers, but also create an environment favorable for volunteerism in the health sector to flourish. Nurses will not be motivated to render volunteer services if they are having difficulties surviving themselves and supporting their families. If they have decent work however, they will be more able and willing to volunteer and serve other Filipinos.
Ultimately, we believe that decent work for our nurses is key to achieving universal quality health care for all. We hope that the DOH and the Aquino administration will concur and take appropriate actions.
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Supported and signed by the following organizations:
ANG NARS
Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK)
Alliance of Filipino Workers (AFW)
Confederation of Independent Unions in the Public Sector (CIU)
Philippine Government Employees Association (PGEA)
Health Care Without Harm (HCWH)
ARUGAAN
Health Futures Foundation (HCF)
Partido ng Manggagawa (PM)
Medical Action Group (MAG)
SanibLakas
Public Services International (PSI)
Public Forum: Exposing the Truth about PNoy’s Nursing Employment Programs
AUGUST 30, 2012
PRESS RELEASE
Young nurses, new passers face grim job prospects:
DOH out to staff hospitals with unpaid labor
The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) has just released the results of the June 2012 Nurse Licensure Examination last week. Out of the 60,895 who took the exam, a total of 27,823 passed which puts the passing rate at 45.69%.
Although this is an improvement from the result of the nursing exam held in December 2011 where only 33.92% passed indicating that our nursing education is improving, job prospects for this new batch of nurses as well as other young nurses in the country remain to be bleak. As of the first quarter of this year, government statistics place the number of unemployed nurses at around 400,000.
In a forum organized on Wednesday (August 30), several trade unions, nursing organizations, and other civil society organizations in the health sector have blamed the current PNoy administration’s penchant for short-term and stop-gap measures such as the Registered Nurses for Health Enhancement and Local Service (RN Heals) as further contributing to the problem of high unemployment among nurses.
Organized by ANG NARS, the Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK), and the Public Services International Philippine affiliates, the forum discussed the different nursing employment programs undertaken by the Aquino government and its impacts to the rights and welfare of the nurses. Around 100 nurses and nursing parents attended the forum, including concerned parents of nurses who are having a hard time finding regular nursing positions in the country.
Nurses who attended the forum attested that despite the issuance by the Department of Health (DOH) of Memorandum No. 2011-0238, false volunteerism practices and false trainings continued to thrive in both public and private hospitals. The said memorandum sought to terminate “all Nurse Volunteer Programs, Volunteer Training Programs for Nurses, and all similar or related programs in all DOH-retained hospitals.”
Dr. Leah Paquiz, founding president of ANG NARS, urged the DOH to strengthen implemention of the DOH Memorandum No. 2011-0238 to protect the rights of nurses–particularly the young nurses.
“The DOH must strictly implement Memorandum No. 0238 and expand its coverage to private health facilities,” said Dr. Paquiz. “We must also penalize hospitals who make our nurses work without pay under various exploitative volunteerism schemes and non-accredited training programs. A year has already passed since the issuance of the memo and yet hospitals continue to exploit our nurses because they are not held accountable,” she added.
The groups also lambasted the plans of the DOH to adopt guidelines on nurse volunteerism amid massive unemployment and underemployment of nurses in the country.
“We are extremely alarmed by the plans of the DOH to develop and implement guidelines on nurse volunteerism,” said Annie Enriquez-Geron, General Secretary of PSLINK, a national confederation of unions and associations in the public sector.
“Close to half a million of our nurses are jobless and desperate for work. We don’t understand why the DOH is suddenly bent on developing guidelines on nurse volunteerism when they know for a fact that this will only increase the vulnerability of our nurses to abuse and exploitation.”
“Many hospitals take advantage of the desperation of our nurses by promising them that they will be eventually hired after rendering unpaid work through false volunteerism and training schemes,” said Enriquez-Geron. “Institutionalizing volunteerism without addressing high unemployment and precarious working arrangements in the health sector will only exacerbate the problem.” she said.
Des Valladolid, a young nurse who previously worked for a hospital under a false volunteerism/training scheme, also criticized the proposed DOH guidelines on nurse volunteerism. She said the guidelines, if adopted, can lead to nurses serving as “volunteers forever” in hospitals.
“Nurses are also human beings who need to earn a decent living for themselves and their families,” said Valladolid. “We deserve to be treated fairly like any other worker or professional.”
Valladolid believes that nurses do not need a policy to institutionalize volunteerism in hospitals and other health facilities. “Volunteerism is already embedded in our chosen profession. Nursing is a service-oriented profession. You cannot be a nurse if you are not passionate about helping people,” Valladolid said.
In a Joint Statement by trade unions and civil society organizations on the DOH proposed guidelines released during the forum, they urged the DOH and the PNoy administration to focus on creation of regular nursing positions and implementation of existing laws that apply to the rights and welfare of nurses such as the Nursing Act of 2002 (Republic Act No. 9173), Magna Carta for Public Health Workers (Republic Act No. 7305) and the DOH Memorandum No. 0238, before coming up with guidelines on nurse volunteerism or any other short-term nursing employment program.
“Genuine volunteerism from the heart will not be hampered by lack of guidelines,” said Enriquez-Geron. “What we do need urgently at this point are strong policies and mechanisms to ensure that decent work for all nurses are defended and promoted. Only through a strong and sustainable health workforce that enjoys security of tenure and a just wage can we achieve universal quality health care for all Filipinos.”
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PSLINK at ANG NARS Assembly
PSLINK served as resource speaker during the General Assembly of ANG NARS in Merced, Quezon City last June 9, 2012.
The assembly was held alongside the second part of the Nursing and Legal Education: Part 2 with Program Accreditation No. 2009-021-128 by the Board of Nursing (accredited as 2.66 CPE Units). See symposium flyer below.
Annie Enriquez- Geron, General Secretary, PSLINK talked about Precarious Work in the Health Sector while Jillian Roque, Advocacy Head of PSLINK, discussed Ethical Recruitment and the WHO Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Professionals.
Check out photos of the activity in the slideshow below.
PSLINK 