Migrant Workers' Rights PSI Calls for Unionised Workforce to Protect Migrant Workers' Rights
At the Second Asia-Pacific Regional Review of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration (GCM), Ananya Basu of PSI highlighted that the most powerful safeguard for migrant workers' rights is the creation of strong and inclusive trade unions. A unionised workforce not only secures better protections for workers but also strengthens public health systems, benefiting both workers and the communities they serve.
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Jyotsna Singh
Honourable Delegates,
Public Services International appreciates the opportunity to address you on behalf of over 14 million health workers in 700 health and care sector unions worldwide who are affiliated to PSI, many of whom are migrants.
The key message we want to leave you with today is that the single most important factor that protects migrant health workers rights at destination, that builds better public health systems and provide better public health outcomes, and also that welcomes health workers back home to good jobs – is a unionised health workforce.
Unions that are inclusive of migrant workers are the best protection against the many human rights violations we are discussing at this meeting. In the health sector, unionised workforces also have lower infection rates, lower mortality, they increase worker to patient ratios, provide better training and increase investments in public health systems – all life changing outcomes for migrant workers and the public you serve.
Unions also play important roles in improving labour migration agreements – they not only get better outcomes for workers, but also better provisions for public health systems in origin countries. We know that there has been a mushrooming of labour migration agreements relating to the health workforce. Most of these agreements are developed and implemented without consultation and active participation of trade unions and the migrant workers themselves. While PSI strongly advocates for government-to-government labour migration agreements for recruitment of health and care workers, we also demand these agreements are developed, implemented and monitored with active participation and decision making of workers and their unions. We have good examples of where union participation has benefited all involved – for example working with the Philippines Department of Migrant Workers and monitoring the agreement between the Philippines and Germany.
As you continue your deliberations and prepare for the IMRF 2026, we call on member states committed to advancing the rights of migrant health workers, to guarantee their right to organise and to involve trade unions in the design and review of any future labour migration agreements, policies or processes.
Thank you.