The National Union for Public Services and Allied Workers (NUPSAW) who attended the launch of the Public Sevices International (PSI) migration desk in Johannesburg on 10 September 2012 applauded the PSI for their efforts to ensure health care and social workers who migrate abroad do so within a positive migration policy framework.
The newly launched PSI Migration Desk will assist with information on support and decent working conditions abroad, opportunities to gain skills and knowledge, and to reintegrate back into the workplace when they return to South Africa. This is particularly important, as South African health and social care workers have migrated to more than 44 countries across the world and the costs of losing trained staff to international migration are enormous.
“Although NUPSAW does not support the idea of workers migrating abroad, we do agree that we respect their rights to decent pay and decent working conditions. Health care workers in South Africa experience very poor and difficult working environments and poor career development. It is, therefore, a given that our members are moving from country to country. It becomes then the obligation of our union to safeguard our members whenever they are faced with challenges abroad or when they come back to the country,” says NUPSAW General Secretary, Success Mataitsane.
“However, our main responsibility is to create an environment for workers to stay in the country,” he concluded.
NUPSAW is an affiliated member of the PSI.
For more information:
The General Secretary
Success Mataitsane
Cell 082 553 8465