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Doctors Strike During COVID-19 Pandemic in Malaysia

Emergency Care Crisis in the United Kingdom and Ireland: Emergency Physician Exodus Looms in Wake of Pay Cuts, Staffing Shortages

The BMA has given up its ability to take industrial action over changes to the junior doctor contract in England. In an email to members on Thursday 10 November, Peter...

The crucial component to any research being successful is fieldwork and gaining access to research participants; which in the academic year 2019-2020 in England became a challenging endeavour, with regards, a) industrial action across the higher education sector, in December 2019 and again in February 2020; b) regional rail network industrial strike action across the year, and c) the pandemic (Coronavirus). This perfect storm restricted and challenged qualitative data collection for a study on 'Teaching Innovation in 21st century UK Higher Education'. Writing from a postgraduate researcher position and perspective who was caught in university halls of residence; this paper reflects a meaningful mental activity and an approach to telling stories. Through my reflections, three themes of experience are significant. 1) Connection and access to participants, Implications of mass media reporting; workloads and screen time.  2) The use of visual method selection is difficult to achieve over a series of digital platforms regarding network failures, functionality, visual descriptions, and feelings of incompetence in understanding the impaired spoken drawing, and 3) the emotional toll on the researcher.

Fifty-five nurses signed a letter published in The Times on August 3 expressing concern that the RCN is doing too little to oppose the Health and Social Care Bill. The bill is progressing through parliament despite protests that, if passed, it will spell the end of the NHS in England.

The Trade Union Bill 2015-16, was expected to receive royal assent in April 2016. The legislation enshrines the Conservative Government’s plans to reform trade unions and ‘to protect essential public services against strikes’ . Central features are the proposed changes to thresholds for industrial action in strike ballots, to the notice period for strike action, to the time limit in which industrial action can be taken, to union check-off arrangements and to the operation of union political funds. In parallel with the introduction of the Bill, the Government published an 8-week public consultation which asked whether statutory measures should be taken to tackle the intimidation of non-striking workers during industrial disputes . In the Consultation the Government stated its intention to reform and modernise the rules relating to picketing, including the possible extension of the Code on picketing to protests linked to industrial action which may encompass the use of social media. The Consultation found little support for Government proposals and in particular the suggestion that unions give two weeks’ notice of plans for picketing and protests, including the intended use of social media this has been dropped. However, the government has stated that it will update the Code of Practice on Picketing to include guidance on the use of social media . This paper draws on our research on the 2009-11 British Airways strikes to consider the Government’s aspiration to widen the definition of industrial action to include protests away from the workplace, particularly organised by, or involving, social media. It will demonstrate the reality of the use of social media during the industrial action at BA, where it became another site of conflict between the union and employer, and speculate upon possible consequences of its inclusion in the Code of Practice.

The term “industrial action” includes any noncooperation with management, such as strict “working to rule,” refusal of certain duties, going slow, and ultimately withdrawal of labor. The latter form of action, striking, has posed particular problems for professional ethics, especially in those professions that provide healthcare, because of the potential impact on patients' well-being. Examination of the issues, however, displays a difference in response between the healthcare professions, in particular between doctors and nurses. In considering the ethics of industrial (especially strike) action there are various aspects of professional ethics to consider: (1) whether there is a tension between industrial action and the very notion of professional ethics; (2) what specific issues arise in the case of healthcare professions; (3) what, if anything, can explain and/or justify different responses from the medical and nursing professions?

Chapter 7 interrogates the central issue in the book—the extent to which pre-strike ballot requirements give effect to the democratic rights of individual workers and the public interest in ensuring that the exercise of strike action is based on democratic decision-making. It argues that pre-strike ballot requirements are imposed on trade unions in a very different context when compared with other forms of political or industrial contests. The chapter analyses unions’ democratic processes in three interrelated, but different, key decisions in the process to take strike action under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth): (i) the decision to apply for an order for a pre-strike ballot to be held; (ii) the decision to approve proposed industrial action in a pre-strike ballot; and (iii) the decision to take approved industrial action after such action has been approved in a pre-strike ballot. Each of these decisions occurs within the context of the legal and industrial relations framework, and the democratic processes involved are inevitably shaped by those frameworks. The evidence presented in this chapter suggests that the first and third decisions are generally conducted in a manner that allows for participatory democratic processes. However, when union members vote in a pre-strike ballot, there is little evidence of the kinds of practices that typically characterize a participatory democratic model. Instead, union engagement with members is focused on educating them about the legal requirements and the consequences of abstention or a no vote in associated bargaining, rather than on the arguments for and against the proposed industrial action.

An outside observer of Zimbabwe’s record on employee rights may be given enough reason to doubt its commitment to fundamental human rights and international law. While Zimbabwe is a member of several international organisations including the International Labour Organization, it has continued to breach several international laws, especially regarding labour.1 The Labour Act of Zimbabwe2 provides for the right to collective job action, which in other jurisdictions is referred to as either collective action or industrial action. Despite the provision for collective job action, which comprises the right to strike, employees have been constantly threatened against striking by the government through the use of the state apparatus, including the deployment of police and national armed forces to quell strike action.3 In its most recent effort to further erode employment rights, on 4 January 2023, the Health Service Amendment Act4 was signed into law by the president of Zimbabwe.5 The Act seeks to amend the Health Service Act (HSA)6 and provide for ancillary matters thereto. The amendment among other things, provides the designation of health services as an essential service and drastically limits workers’ right to strike. Some provisions of the Act go against the grain of international labour law and may fail the constitutional muster, let alone the global best practice test. The law, which has been labelled draconian by some commentators,7 raises pertinent labour and human rights concerns and may need to be revised.

Studies are lacking on the employment determinants of job insecurity, that may be helpful to determine highly exposed groups and to assess the feasibility of constructing job-exposure matrices (JEMs) for this occupational exposure. The objectives were to explore the employment determinants of job insecurity in a nationally representative sample of the French working population. The study was based on the cross-sectional data of the 2013 national French working conditions survey including a sample of 28,293 employees, 12,283 men and 16,010 women. Job insecurity was assessed using one single item related to the fear of job loss in the next 12 months. Gender, age, and educational level were studied as well as the following employment variables: temporary/permanent work contract, full/part time work, job seniority, occupation, economic activity of the company, public/private sector, and company size. The associations with job insecurity were studied using bivariate and multivariate analyses. One quarter of the study sample was exposed to job insecurity, without any difference between genders. Lower age and lower educational levels were associated with job insecurity. Employees who had a temporary work contract, lower job seniority, who were working in low-skilled occupational groups, in manufacturing (for both genders) and construction (among men), and in the private sector had a higher prevalence of exposure to job insecurity. The two major employment variables associated with job insecurity were temporary work contract (prevalence ratios>2) and private sector (prevalence ratios>1.4) for the whole sample and for both men and women. Our findings suggested that intervention/prevention measures could be oriented towards specific highly exposed groups of the working population, especially those exposed to temporary work contract and/or working in the private sector. Our study also underlined that constructing JEMs for job insecurity may be possible and could be a useful tool for large-scale occupational health studies.

PurposeThis paper seeks to look at proposals in the Health and Social Care Bill for the establishment of health and wellbeing boards.Design/methodology/approachThe paper looks at one part of the Health and Social Care Bill, the provisions in Chapter 2 of Part 5 relating to the establishment and functions of health and wellbeing boards.FindingsThe paper considers the functions of health and wellbeing boards, particularly in relation to encouraging integrated working, and suggests that the proposed legislation does not yet clearly spell out what steps the boards should take to encourage integrated working or how commissioners of services should be encouraged to work more closely together.Originality/valueThis paper offers a legal perspective on the possible establishment of health and wellbeing boards.

Orientation: The public health sector in South Africa faces a number of human resource– related inundations. Solving these challenges requires the provision of empirically derived information on these matters.Research purpose: This study investigated the relationship between three work-related factors, person-environment fit, work-family balance and perceived job security, and employee satisfaction and organisational commitment. A conceptual framework that links these factors is proposed and tested.Motivation for the study: The prevalence of employee-related challenges involving public health professionals, as evidenced through industrial action and high labour turnover, amongst others, demands further research in order to generate appropriate solutions.Research approach, design and method: A quantitative design using the survey approach was adopted. A six-section questionnaire was administered to a stratified sample of 287 professionals in three public health institutions in Gauteng, South Africa. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, Pearson’s correlation analysis and regression analysis.Main findings: Job security and person-environment fit both positively correlated with and predicted employee satisfaction. The association between work-family balance and employee satisfaction was weak and showed no significant predictive validity. Employee satisfaction was strongly correlated to and predicted organisational commitment.Practical/managerial implications: The findings of the current study may be used by managers in public health institutions to improve the level of organisational commitment amongst professionals in the sector, thus preventing further employee-related challenges that negatively affect the provision of outstanding public health services.Contribution: The study provides current evidence on how both work-related and humanrelated factors could contribute to the prosperity of the public health sector, both at micro and macro levels. The study also provides updated insights into the interplay between these factors in the context of South Africa, thereby addressing a research gap in this subject.

With the exception of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, all the Arab countries of the Asian Middle East have implemented pension and lump sum payments schemes based on employer and employee participation. Lebanon is the only state to continue to apply terminal lump sums in the private sector.

The BMA has announced that it will “very reluctantly” ballot its members on whether they are willing to provide only urgent and emergency care for a day should the government...

This multi-method study investigates how news media in Britain, Germany, and the Netherlands covered the Convention’s preparation of the European Union Constitution. The study draws on interviews with Brussels correspondents and a content analysis of television news and national newspapers. Results show that the Constitution entered and vanished from the media agenda, the tone of the coverage was predominantly negative, and the issue was reported from a European angle. Explanations of these results come from journalists’ relations with EU institutions, their home news organizations, and their perception of the audience.