International voice
UNISON has proven to be a powerful voice for workers not only for Britain but all over the world, conference heard today.
"When you speak, governments listen," said this afternoon's guest speaker, Annie Geron, general secretary of PSLink, UNISON's sister union in the Philippines.
She praised the union for its condemnation of the corrupt political regime in her country which has let extra-judicial killings go unpunished.
"Every week someone is killed," she said. "Every day, the government treats it as business as usual."
Appealing to the union to continue to speak up for the ordinary people of the Philippines, Ms Geron said: "You are the largest union of the public sector; you have power and influence in this country - please continue creating the pressure on the Arroyo government to take decisive action to stop the killings and to respect human rights.
"Please don't underestimate what these petition letters can do," she urged. "They do save lives."
In the Philippines, as in the UK, trade unions are waging war against the privatisation of public services. But in a country where corruption is already rife, privatisation only opens the door wider to corruption, Ms Geron said.
"And when corruption is pervasive, public services suffer."
Ms Geron also thanked the union for championing the rights of migrant workers, and hailed its contribution to the development of an ethical recruitment framework.
Education and health were suffering because of an exodus of teachers and healthworkers from the Philippines, she said. "The Philippines is the number one exporter of nurses in the world," and the past four years have seen a 61% decrease in the number of doctors.
All over the country, hospitals are closing because of a lack of skilled health professionals, she said, blaming "relentless and unethical recruitment by developed countries" who were poaching skilled professionals without offering any compensation.
"Keep migrant workers on the union agenda," she urged.
"Finally, I thank UNISON for your invaluable contribution to empowering workers in developing countries. Together, let's wage war against poverty, against rights violations, and let's win the fight to keep public services in public hands."
UNISON news.
http://www.unison.org.uk/news/news_view.asp?did=3415
