Union calls for health insurance

PUBLIC Employees Association (PEA) president Robert Kutapai has raised concerns at the number of public servants dying of stress and lifestyle-related diseases.
“It is common knowledge that the country is losing public servants on the job due to health issues,” he said.
“These health issues include work pressure or stress, changing lifestyle like diet and risk at work.”
Kutapai made the comments when addressing the 37th PEA National Congress at Gaire village, Central, last week.
The theme of the congress was “Promoting a healthy and effective public service”.
“Given the lifestyle changes of public servants today, insurance is no longer a luxury but a necessity for public servants.
“The union’s local knowledge and experience puts us in good stead to assist the government on its policy shift as opposed to foreign insurers who do not have any local knowledge of the insurance sector.”
Kutapai said PEA had the local interest in the health schemes for public servants.
“We have gone one step ahead with negotiating a memorandum of agreement with a local Insurer (Life Insurance Corporation) with premium cover that is affordable and offers great benefits for union members.”
Kutapai said that PEA had resolved to campaign for a healthy and effective public service.
“The time is appropriate for PEA to join its international affiliate, the Public Services International (PSI) in its global campaign for universal health for public sector workers.
“It is an undisputed fact that the health of a worker affects performance.
“Productivity in the workplace is quantified by the time spent on the job.
“If a worker is sick and misses work for a day, it is regarded as lost time and time is money, so productivity goes down which reduces output.”