PSLINK participates in the World Social Forum on Migrations

The WSFM is one of the processes under the World Social Forum (WSF).

Held on November 26-30, 2012, it was the first time that such a big and important gathering of social movements engaged in migration and development issues was will be held in Asia. The weeklong activity was comprised of plenary sessions, workshops, exhibits, cultural events, concerts etc. The theme of the 2012 WSFM was “Mobility, Rights and Global Models: Looking for Alternatives” and the following were the sub- thematic areas:

1.         Crisis, Critique and Consequences of Global Migration

2.         Migrants Rights are Human Rights

3.         Re-imagining migration proposing alternatives, exploring models

4.         Resistance, Organization, Action

The WSFM provided an effective space for exchanges of ideas, experiences and strategies, building solidarity across sectors and regions, and promoting alternatives to the current neoliberal paradigm which has only led to increased migration but worsening precarity of labor.

PSI including PSLINK organized the WSFM Labor Movement Workshop which was one of the most attended workshops with a total of 76 attending it (capacity of the venue is only 50). Most of the attendees were from the local trade unions but we also had a good number of participants coming from different countries like USA, Sweden, Australia, Taiwan, Nepal, Korea, and India. Aside from PSI, ITUC, BWI, PSI Research Unit we also had delegates from SEIU, GEFONT, APWSLI, KCTU and GMPA. The workshop served as an opportunity to expose the local trade unions to labor migration issues, get them more involved in our campaigns, and build more support around the Global Unions position on migration.

Priority recommendations that came out of the workshop and which were integrated in the 2012 WSFM Statement were the following:

1.      Protect the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining of migrant workers and organize migrant workers towards full and meaningful participation in the trade union movement in both the sending and host countries.

2.      Unions should develop programs for migrant workers such as, but not limited to Migrant Workers Centers as source of labor market information and one-stop resource center on migration and employment information; pre-employment/ pre-decision orientation seminars, re-integration programs, collective bargaining provisions covering migrant workers, community support mechanisms, migration research, legal services that lead to strategies to take employers and the system to court.

3.      Engage governments in both sending and receiving countries, at the national and local/ provincial/ state/ governments in social dialogue to come up with cooperation agreements and/ or develop programs for migrant workers and their children i.e. scholarships, language training, literacy training.

1.      Participate in National and Local Planning for economic development and invest in decent jobs and quality public services.

2.      Global Unions Federations and the International Trade Union Confederation should promote of union-to-union agreements and the portability of union membership; while building strong alliances with civil society organizations in both sending and receiving countries.

PSI Philippine affiliates (AFW, CIU, PGEA, and PSLINK) also joined the big mobilization during the last day of the WSFM.

Check out the photos in the slideshow below.

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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.

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Meeting w/ Washington-based Alliance for Ethical International Recruitment Practices

PSLINK as a member of the PSI National Working Group on Migration met with Dr. Patricia Pittman, Executive Director of the Alliance for Ethical International Recruitment Practices at the EDSA Shangrila Hotel. The meeting served as a venue for the PSI NWG and the Alliance to learn more about each other’s initiatives to promote ethical recruitment of health workers, share experiences and best practices, and discuss possible areas of cooperation.
                           

PSLINK and POEA hold Trainer’s Training on Migration and Ethical Recruitment

In partnership with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), PSLINK and other PSI affiliates organized a 2-day Trainers Training on Pre-Employment Orientation Seminars on August 20-21, 2011, 8-5PM.

Dubbed Capacity Enhancement Training on the Overseas Employment Program and Ethical Recruitment, the training was conducted to a) enhance understanding of the overseas employment program in the Philippines; b) strengthen capacity of select nurses and teachers on providing pre-employment orientation seminars; and c) build an active network of advocates who will help conduct PEOS and awareness-raising seminars on Ethical Recruitment.

This trainers’ training is part of the Memorandum of Agreement signed between PSLINK and the POEA to help address illegal recruitment in the country and promote ethical recruitment of workers. PSLINK is the first labor organization which has entered into such agreement with the POEA.

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