Health employees call for recognition

The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) is calling on the state to elevate the status of some 150,000 temporary workers in the medical field across the kingdom to permanent staff in recognition of their hard work battling the Covid19 pandemic.

The union, joined by the State Enterprises Workers’ Relations Confederation (SERC) and basic utilities activist groups, presented a letter conveying their request to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha at Government House yesterday.

In the letter, the GPO said approximately 150,000 workers under the Public Health Ministry around the country deserve recognition and better employment conditions as they have worked hard to contain coronavirus infections.

According to the union, some temporary workers are underpaid and do not have job security because their employment contracts only cover a short period of time.

The GPO urged the government to give the mostly unskilled workers permanent employment status. This status would come with longer contract durations and certain welfare benefits. The letter said the request for status elevation would also be submitted to provincial offices nationwide.

Last month, the government upgraded about 40,000 skilled medical workers with temporary employment contracts to civil servants for their invaluable contributions to fighting the Covid-19 crisis.

Yesterday, the GPO union said the unskilled workers should be equally recognised and elevated status would be a morale booster for them.

The union also asked the government not to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for TransPacific Partnership (CPTPP). The union shared critics’ view that the restriction of rights to access medicine under the CPTPP will endanger Thailand’s public health system.

The CPTPP is a trade agreement involving a bloc of 11 Pacific Rim nations, excluding the United States.

Negotiations on CPTPP started after the Trans-Pacific Partnership fizzled out.