Nurses defer strike until Cabinet meeting

The nurses will wait for a December 11 Cabinet decision before considering further action. Jintana Yunibhand, president of the Nurses’ Association of Thailand, said most representatives were satisfied with yesterday’s meeting with Yingluck at Government House. She said the PM agreed to consider their demand to employ as full time civil servants 17,000 nurses who have been working as temporary employees, in three rounds.
The two rounds of enlisting should be in January and October 2013 and the third in October 2014.
Jintana said Yingluck had assigned the Bureau of Budget and related agencies to study the situation. The Public Health Ministry would, in the meantime, enlist the nurses to be ministry employees so they would enjoy similar benefits regarding healthcare, career advancement and education opportunities.
As a result, the strike plan was put on hold, she said. They would wait for the December 11 Cabinet meeting to see if lawmakers would approve what Yingluck had promised them.
The Office of the Civil Service Commission (OCSC) had approved 30,188 civil service positions to the Public Health Ministry for 2012-2014. In 2012, there were 10,494 positions available with 7,547 allocated to temporary employees working since 2006-2008. Another 2,947 would be given to government scholarship recipients (doctors, dentists and pharmacists), while 2013 and 2014 would each see 7,547 positions allocated, excluding government scholarship recipients.
The centre and general hospitals’ clubs yesterday urged the government and OCSC to sympathise and see the importance of various professions, especially nurses. Hospital staff were asked to patiently wait for the Cabinet’s decision and think carefully before launching a strike. If it occurred, hospital directors would monitor it and provide services so patients would not be greatly affected by the strike.