ASIA PACIFIC NEWS

Public Services International is a global union federation representing 20 million members in 150 countries. Asia Pacific News is published and electronically distributed by Public Services International Asia Pacific Regional Organisation (PSI APRO). Please send comments and contributions to: indah.budiarti@world-psi.org and mike.ingpen@psa.org.nz

PUBLIC SERVICES INTERNATIONAL

Edition: February 2014

International trade union mission condemns continuing labour rights violations in South Korea
PSI participated in an international trade union mission in South Korea on 17-20 January to investigate continued fundamental labour rights violations against trade unions including PSI affiliates. The mission comes in the midst of increasing repression against Korean trade unions in response to a 23day rail strike. Participants in the mission included PSI Deputy General Secretary David Boys., John Evans, General Secretary of the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD, and other representatives from PSI, ITUC and ITF. During the mission, international trade union delegates participated in the rally held in front of Seoul Station that was attended by hundreds of PSI-affiliated union members. Read more here.

WAPDA workers privatisation protest

President of the Pakistan WAPDA Hydro Electric Central Labour Union (WAPDA) Brother Abdul Latif Nizamani led a nation-wide protest on 22 January 2014 against the governments plans to privatise national utilities. Protest rallies were organised in Lahore, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Multan, Gujranwala, Rahim Yar Khan, Larkana, Sukhur, Hyderabad and Quetta. The union pointed out that the privatised electricity companies at Multan and Rawalpindi had miserably failed to provide electricity to the cities not to mention the far-flung rural areas. The recent case of Karachi Electric Supply Company is another example of failure. The government should learn from such bitter experiences electricity should not be privatised. As a basic need, it is the responsibility of the State to provide cheap and sufficient electricity to consumers.

Study: Fatigued nurses more likely to regret clinical decisions

Fatigued nurses are more likely to express concern that they made a wrong decision about a patient's care, according to a study in the January issue of American Journal of Critical Care (AJCC). "Association of Sleep and Fatigue With Decision Regret Among Critical Care Nurses" found that nurses impaired by fatigue, loss of sleep, daytime sleepiness and an inability to recover between shifts are more likely than well-rested nurses to report decision regret. Decision regret was most common among nurses who are male, work 12-hour shifts and have lower levels of satisfaction with their clinical decisions. Read more here.

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KHMU establishes campaign to stop the privatisation of health care

PSI's affiliate in Korea, the Korean Health & Medical Workers Union (KHMU) held its national Executive Committee on 15 and 16 January 2014 with 250 key unionists in Cheonan city. In the committee meeting, KHMU decided to stop the government policy to privatise the health care system by its all-out struggle including a nation-wide strike.

KHMU resolved to organise a national campaign to stop the privatisation of health care driven by the government, to defend the democratic trade union movement and to pressurise Park Geun-hyes administration to step down. Read the union's statement here.

Tonga solidarity support: Ha'apai Cyclone Relief Fund

The President of the Tonga Public Service Association (PSA), Vili Vete, and Secretary General, Mele 'Amanaki, gave the Hon. Minister of Finance, Mr. 'Aisake Eke (middle in picture), PSA's donation of $2,000 to the Ha'apai Cyclone Relief Fund. This fund is raised from the fortnightly $2 subscriptions of PSA members who are government employees. The PSA Secretary General also travelled to Ha'apai to directly give a donation of $3,000 to their PSA members who have been affected by Cyclone Ian. This is a kind donation from the New Zealand Public Service Association (NZ PSA) and Public Service International (PSI). Contact PSAs Secretary General for more info rmation: tpsa_secretary@yahoo.com

Collective bargaining, collective voice

Collective bargaining is at the core of shared prosperity and the foundation of sustainable and just societies. Trade unionists, workers, employers and government representatives explain how they improved not only working conditions but also workplace relations and productivity through fair and effective dialogue. Attacks against the right to collective bargaining have led to a decrease in the share of workers covered by collective agreements in some countries and have prevented the strengthening of collective bargaining institutions in some countries in the Global South. Furthermore, collective bargaining reduces wage inequality, including the gender pay gap without any negative impact on employment or economic efficiency. Read the Equal Times special report on Collective Bargaining here.

Pinocchio award goes to Veolia in Nagpur

As a corollary to the main award ceremony held in Paris, five organisations including PSI gave a Pinocchio Award to Veolia, in Nagpur on 25 January 2014. Every year, three French international associations give the Pinocchio award to multinational companies violating social and environmental rights. Read more here.

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Reclaiming public health care services in the Philippines

In the presence of Public Services International officials and civil society representatives, Leah S. Paquiz of the Ang Nars association spoke at the Philippines House of Representatives on 11 February 2014, inquiring into the government health policy. Health is not for sale, said Paquiz, Health care should focus on providing the best service to people, not on making money. The right to a public health service is guaranteed by the Philippines Constitution, so the government is responsible and accountable for its promotion and protection. The government should never treat the delivery of health care services as a business. Public-private partnerships, outsourcing and contracting out of services such as facilities management, hospital management and clinical services are part of the process of privatisation and marketisation, added Paquiz. Privatisation adversely impacts health workers because it can lead to cuts in the labour force, reduced salaries and poor working conditions. Ang Nars issued a press release highlighting these issues. Read more here.

New South Wales, Australia: Save Medicare

The General Secretary of the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA), Brett Holmes, joined nurses, midwives, labour leaders and other public health advocates at a rally on 15 February 2014 in Sydney to defend Australias public health, hospital and Medicare system from a multi-pronged attack by recently-elected conservative governments. We need all Australians to be crystal clear about what is going on here. We are witnessing the first stages of death by a thousand privatisations of the public health and Medicare system Australians hold so dear, Mr Holmes said. Our public health care system built up over decades and trusted by Australian families to deliver crucial care in times of crisis is under attack at every level of government. Privatisation is the slow death of our public system, make no mistake, just as co -payments are the death knell of Medicare, Mr Holmes said. Nothing matters more to most Australians. We must fight to defend affordable health care for our families from the forces that would turn it all into an American-style profit machine, Mr Holmes said. See the media release here.

Inequality is not inevitable

A new ILO report shows that the growing gap between rich and poor is only partially associated with technological change. The divide is mostly the result of economic and institutional policies that preceded the global economic and social crisis and were made worse by it. Over the last 20 years, income distribution has shifted in favour of the rich, while the relative income position of the poor and of much of the middle class was deteriorating in most countries, including global economic powers such as the United States, Germany and China. The main reason workers are getting a smaller share of national income are policies over the last 30 years that have distributed income in favour of capital and against labour. What is called the labour income share began to fall around the 1980s in many advanced economies, including the United States and Japan, and a similar trend has been observed in recent years in emerging countries, notably China. In addition, this smaller share of labour income was distributed more and more unequally between workers with striking results. The new book portrays a rather depressing but familiar picture. For the advanced countries, the labour income share on average has decreased by about 10 percentage points from the peak level of the late 1970s. Yet this significant reduction hides even wider income inequality, as the top 1 per cent of earners are included in the labour income share.. Read more here.

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Human rights are not negotiable: support LGBT workers' rights!

Public Services International and sister global union Education International join LGBT groups and other human rights defenders in condemning increasing intolerance and attacks on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. Governments the world over appear to be abdicating their duty to protect and advance the human rights of all their citizens, including LGBT people. PSI and EI demand that all laws criminalising homosexuality, wherever they exist, be abolished. We call on governments to repeal discriminatory laws, improve responses to hate-motivated violence as a matter of urgency, and ensure adequate and appropriate legal protection from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. PSI and EI unequivocally condemn any form of discrimination or violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons and call on trade unions worldwide to actively oppose homophobia and to organise to defend the rights of LGBT workers. Read the joint statement here.

Trillions lost to global corruption

The European Union has released a report saying that corruption in the region is "breath-taking". Globally, corruption steals 1.6 trillion dollars money which could be used for improving public services and education. See RadioLabour report with Rosa Pavanelli, the General-Secretary of Public Services International and Milt Isaacs, the President of PSI affiliate the Association of Canadian Financial Officers here.

Relief efforts: Mount Kelud eruption

PSI's affiliates in Indonesia in the electricity sector and airport unions jointly disbursed relief support to the victims of the Mount Kelud eruption. On 13 February 2014, Mount Kelud in Java erupted and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee.

The eruption has left up to two inches of grey ash on roads and buildings as far away as 600 km from the eruption and forced most airports in Java to close as the volcanic ashes covered the runways, apron and tarmac. The unions distributed face masks and basic goods for the victims. The unions stand in solidarity for refugees and have built coordination camps in Kediri, Blitar and Malang for the relief efforts.

A quiet revolution: Women in Bangladesh

Women in Bangladesh have made major strides over the past decades, putting the South Asian country at the forefront among the least-developed countries in addressing gender disparity. Bangladesh has the eighth lowest gender gap in political empowerment in the world. This is partially due to the fact that it has had a female head of state for longer than any other country in the world. In addition, the proportion of seats held by women in the national parliament doubled from 10 per cent in 1990 to 20 per cent in 2011. In the economic sphere, women have played a vital role as well, as evidenced by the importance of the ready-made garment (RMG) sector. While the share of men and women employed in manufacturing is roughly the same, the vast majority of RMG sector workers are women 80-85 per cent. Bangladeshs economic success in the last two decades is in large part due to the RMG exports to Europe and North America. Read more here.

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JICHIROs 60th anniversary: Dedicating all our strength to the movement for a sustainable community
All Japan Prefectural and Municipal Workers Union (JICHIRO) has celebrated its 60th anniversary. A reception party was held during the 146th Central Committee Meeting on 31 January 2014 in Tokyo. About 580 people participated in the party including RENGO President Mr. Nobuaki Koga, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Mr. Masakazu Sekiguchi, the leader of the Democratic Party Mr. Banri Kaieda, the leader of the Social Democratic Party Mr. Tadatomo Yoshida, the leader of Komeito Mr. Natsuo Yamaguchi and the former Prime Minister and Special Adviser to JICHIRO Mr. Tomiichi Murayama. In his speech, JICHIRO President Mr. Tsuneo Ujiie said, Since JICHIRO was established in January 1954 with 240,000 members, we have been struggling for basic labour rights, local autonomy, local finance and decentralisation which has mobilised so many colleagues, we thank the efforts of many of our senior members. As a memorial project, we have established a researcher training system which should contribute to the improvement of workers liv es and the union movement. We would like to do our best to dedicate all our strength to the movement for a sustainable community through the joined forces of public service workers in history. JICHIRO has a strong membership of 880,000. Read more here (in Japanese).

Privatisation provides no dividends for the poor

Privatisation has become the final resort of governments that need funds but are afraid to tax the wealthy and prevent tax evasion by big businesses. This article by Professor Sharon Beder was published in the Brisbane Times on 10 January 2014. The chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Rod Sims, is the latest in a long line of business advisers to urge further privatisation of this country's essential services in the name of productivity, efficiency and lower prices. The privatisation of essential government services is not about competition and efficiency; it is about the redistribution of wealth and control. Privatisation has become the final resort of governments that need funds but are afraid to tax the wealthy and prevent tax evasion by big businesses. Instead, government assets are sold in a scramble for cash at the expense of ongoing dividends and government control of essential services. Struggling families and small businesses suffer most from the inevitable price rises that follow. Privatisation is promoted by a group of powerful vested interests greedy for low-risk financial investments, consultancy and legal fees, or banking business. They are aided by business-funded think tanks and economic advisers who spread the ideologically based belief that private management is superior, despite the plethora of examples contradicting this. For example, experience in the United States, where public and private enterprises supplied electricity contemporaneously, has consistently shown that public enterprises can provide a reliable service at lower cost to ratepayers. Similarly, in Britain and France, municipal governments offer water services at cheaper rates than privately operated services. Private owners are concerned more about a return on their investment than the welfare of consumers. They have a strong incentive to achieve ''efficiencies'' because they need to make profits. These profits must be delivered despite paying more to borrow money than governments, as well as having to cover marketing and lobbying costs, political donations, higher executive salaries and shareholder dividends. However, efficiencies inevitably come at the expense of service reliability and quality as they involve cutting and/or casualising workforces; reducing worker training; skimping on infrastructure maintenance and investment; and neglecting services for remote customers and those less able to pay. As a result of electricity privatisation and deregulation, there have been blackouts, price spikes, price manipulation, bankruptcies and electricity shortages around the world. Privatisation and deregulation have seen the goal of reliable, affordable, universal electric service replaced by the goal of economic efficiency and the rhetoric of competition and consumer choice. Read the full article here.

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Challenges and opportunities for trade unions in 2014

Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), discusses achievements of the global trade union movement in 2013 and new challenges coming up this year. She stresses the role of the ILO in the fight for workers rights and says what she expects from the ITUC Congress in May 2014 in Berlin. Read more here.

Pre-Decision Booklet for Migrating Health professionals

Manoranjan Pegu, PSI project coordinator for South Asia, presented the India Pre-Decision Booklet for Migrating Health professionals on 21 January 2014 on behalf of PSI. The predecision booklet is part of a series of migration information materials developed for Indian health workers under the International Labour Organization (ILO) Decent Work Across Borders (DWAB) project which seeks to facilitate an approach to migration that benefits the migrant workers, the source and destination countries within a rights-based framework for labour migration management. The migration information materials seek to address the needs of migrant health workers at all stages of migration -- from pre-decision to return and reintegration. For more info, contact: manorajan.pegu@world-psi.org

Australia: 20 February 2014 - Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) members protest against a Sensis/Telstra announcement to cut 800 jobs. Click here for more information.

The annual Executive meeting of the Mongolian Medical Employees Trade Union Federation (METUF) took place 17 January 2014. This meeting approved the 2014-2015 action plan.

Global Employment Trends 2014: The risk of a jobless recovery The ILO Global Employment Trends study offers the latest global and regional information and projections on several indicators of the labour market, including employment, unemployment, working poverty and vulnerable employment. The weak global economic recovery has failed to lead to an improvement in global labour markets, with global unemployment in 2013 reaching almost 202 million. Click here for the report.

SUBRACs and APREC Meetings 2014 3-4 March 2014, Hong Kong: East Asia Sub-regional Advisory Committee (EASRAC) meeting 13-15 March 2014, Manila, Philippines: Southeast Asia Sub-regional Committee (EASRAC) meeting 19-20 March 2014, Sydney, Australia: Oceania Subregional Advisory Committee (OSRAC) meeting 13-16 April 2014, Bali, Indonesia: Asia Pacific Regional Executive Committee (APREC) meeting

Public Services International Asia Pacific Regional Organisation (PSI APRO) Regional Secretary: Ms. V. Lakshmi
Wisma AUPE, 295 Upper Paya Lebar Road Singapore 534929 |Tel: +65.6282.3219 Fax +65.6280.4919 | E-mail: lakshmi.vaidhiyanathan@world-psi.org