Genevieve Gencianos, who serves as the migration programme coordinator for the internationally recognized trade union federation, Public Services International (PSI), gave an enlightening speech at the recent health conference held by UNISON in Liverpool. The main topic of Ms. Gencianos’ address was PSI’s relentless efforts towards establishing favourable working conditions, superior quality public services, and ethical recruitment procedures concerning foreign health workers.
She commenced her speech by bringing attention to a shocking revelation predicted by the World Health Organisation. It is anticipated that by the year 2030, the healthcare sector across the globe will be grappling with an acute shortage of healthcare personnel, amounting to about 11.1 million. She added that these shortages would not be evenly distributed, instead presenting as severe regional dearths.
To illustrate her point, Ms Gencianos stated, ‘Africa, a continent that is home to 17% of the world’s population, currently houses just 4% of global healthcare professionals. This fact poses a serious threat to global health neutrality.’ In addition, projections for 2030 suggest the UK will experience a significant shortfall, possibly to the tune of 500,000 health care personnel.
Ms. Gencianos then switched gears to shed light on the resultant consequences in the UK of such a healthcare staffing crisis. According to her, this imbalance in supply and demand is only breeding unethical and predatory recruitment agencies motivated by profit. These agencies realise opportunities in the gaps prevalent in the system, exploiting poor regulatory policies and disconnected migration principles.
She emphasized the necessity for a strategic realignment of our migration framework in sync with labour rights and employment laws. At the same time, robust and clear-cut regulations need to be implemented to keep such ill-intentioned entities in check and safeguard the rights of the workers. Ethics and transparency should be at the forefront of such regulations.
She went on to share the multi-faceted role PSI plays in this domain. As an international union federation, PSI is instrumental in moulding the international norms related to the migration of healthcare workers. A significant contribution made by PSI is towards the International Labour Organisation’s recruitment guidelines designed to protect migrant workers. The guidelines unambiguously prohibit the imposition of recruitment fees on migrant workers to maintain a fair labour market.
In her view, exorbitant recruitment fees pose a serious threat of pushing workers towards modern bonded labour situations. As a signatory of ILO, the UK government has a responsibility to adopt this labour standard and eradicate all forms of illegal recruitment fees, both legally and practically.
Ms. Gencianos appreciated UNISON’s proactive approach in their campaign aimed at abolishing the employer-linked care visa, proposing the responsibility should rest with the government. She noted this would be a bold and intelligent move to rectify a system that has been built on disparity.
In her conclusion, she expressed a sense of unity and solidarity, conveying that the significant challenges we confront need a united approach across borders. She reminded the audience that it is crucial to address the underlying reasons leading to migration and exploitation.
Following Genevieve’s empowering speech, Gamu Nyasoro from the nursing and midwifery professional group took the floor. With deep concern, she proposed a motion for enhancing the conditions for overseas recruited nurses and midwives. She expressed her worries about foreign health workers, who are leaving their roles within the NHS to seek better-paying positions in other countries.
Gamu highlighted the importance of reviewing global retention strategies. She pointed out that the significant contributions made by overseas healthcare professionals to the NHS cannot be overlooked or taken lightly. She further noted that many foreign nurses working under the NHS banner are often out of the purview of core staff advantages, like pensions, and frequently find themselves the target of harassment.
Hetty Okonji, a representative from Bedfordshire Health branch, spoke in favour of Gamu’s motion. She stated, ‘Nurses and midwives from overseas form a crucial part of the NHS family. Regrettably, such important members are now leaving the NHS, taking their precious skills and insights to countries with less restrictive and prejudiced immigration rules.’
Should migration continue without a robust retention plan in place, Hetty suggested, it would be tantamount to financial waste. She likened importing international workers only to lose them to openly ‘pouring money down the drain.’
A few motions were subsequently discussed concerning the improvement of support to migrant workers. Carlene Brown presented the first, where she discussed the ‘exploitation, social isolation, and discrimination’ migrant workers commonly face. She stressed the union’s responsibility to ensure healthcare services are accessible and culturally sensitive.
In the final motion, an anonymous speaker pointed out the dangers of the care visa, declaring that it awarded tremendous power to employers and created an imbalance, opening up the possibility for worker mistreatment without regulation or accountability. Ultimately, these motions called for the service group to undertake further work in enhancing the union’s visibility among migrant care workers and devising specialized advice modules for organisers in the migrant workforce.
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