"We want the government to come up with rights-based responses, prioritize PPE to all healthcare workers and frontliners. We demand that they must get just pay, hazard pay, and other benefits accorded to other workers. In terms of long-term steps, we want systemic changes as we need to be away from policies that led to this crisis in the first place" said Jillian. "We do not only need to keep calling our nurses 'heroes', rather we need decent work, decent pay, and protection of our rights."
gender pay gap
In public sector, salaries for nurses are standardized but in private sector, salaries are not standardized, so many nurses are earning way below than public sector wages. "Nursing or teaching jobs where women dominate in terms of numbers, are usually the jobs not well paid. Nurses are paid lower than police or military for example" shared Jillian, even though their work puts them at risk and nurses are on the frontlines of this public health emergency. Community health workers are also less paid and almost all of them are women, which is not a coincidence but points towards deep-seated gender-based inequalities.
NO GOING BACK
"We need to collectively come together and signal to the government that we do not want this day to be only about applauding nurses, but we also need this day for governments to act and make those words meaningful" said Kate Lappin. She shared that over 100 organizations that represent over 300 million workers have issued a 'No Going Back' call on the International Nurses' Day. This call recognizes:
- The most important purpose of government is to organise society so that everyone can be cared for
- We can no longer tolerate the perverse practice of extracting profits from ill-health
- Healthcare must never be dependent on the capacity to pay
- Trade must enhance the capacity of nations to provide quality public healthcare, not restrict it
This No Going Back call demands governments to work with nurses and their unions to develop public health reconstruction plans. It calls upon governments to remove all obstacles, including intellectual property rules, in existing trade agreements and rules that hinder timely and affordable access to medical supplies, such as lifesaving medicines, devices, diagnostics and vaccines, and the ability of governments to take whatever steps are necessary to address this crisis. It also asks all governments to support the proposal by the Government of Costa Rica to develop a 'global COVID-19 commons' for all research, data, technology, treatments and vaccines relating to COVID-19 as a non-proprietary shared global resource.
This No Going Back call, demands that the World Bank should stop providing funds for public health to the private health industry and for the International Finance Corporation to stop promoting health privatisation which includes the flawed model of Public Private Partnerships. The IMF should cease directing governments to cut public spending and public sector wages.
"We need to be coming together and demanding responses that are more just and supportive of public health services" said Kate. Touch one touch all, the old golden value of the unions, have become even more relevant today in crises times. We are all vulnerable - but some are more vulnerable than others - till we can move away from an economy, that, is based on driving maximum profits for few and elevating risk for many more.
Shobha Shukla CNS (Citizen News Service)
(Shobha Shukla is the founding Managing Editor at CNS (Citizen News Service) and coordinator of APCAT Media (Asia Pacific regional media network to end TB & tobacco and prevent NCDs). Follow her on Twitter @shobha1shukla, or visit www.bit.ly/ShobhaShukla)
- Shared under Creative Commons (CC)
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