Nurses Union Wants More Discussions On Psd S Allowance Cut Plan

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The Malayan Nurses Union (MNU) hopes that the Public Service Department (PSD) will reconsider its decision to halt paying fresh recruits “critical service incentives”
Speaking to Malaysiakini, MNU president Nor Hayati Abd Rashid (above, centre) called upon the government to enter into discussions with the union before implementing the cuts, slated to begin on Jan 1, 2020
“We would like to urge PSD to reconsider and reinstate these critical allowances to young nurses
“[...] I believe the government will always open the door for discussions, as before this we have been involved in many discussions with government departments in the past,” she said

Staff nurses with a diploma or higher qualification presently receive a monthly allowance of between 10 to 15 percent of their basic salary
According to a Dec 20 PSD circular, nurses who join the civil service from next year onwards will stop receiving the allowance
A matron at Hospital Teluk Intan, Nor Hayati contended that the allowance cuts not only discriminated against new nurses, it would also discourage them from staying in the public service in the long run
“The job description is the same. So if the existing staff can continue to receive this allowance, I think it would not be fair for them (the new nurses) [...] we don’t want to have this double standard for the staff in the future,” she said
“Psychologically, it will demoralise them. The second thing is probably people will resign (from government service) to go somewhere else [...] this will be a brain drain, we will lose our nurses,” she added
Nor Hayati, who is also the Malaysian Trade Union Congress’ (MTUC) public service sector vice president, noted that the allowances were first implemented as an incentive to retain nurses in the public sector
“They introduced this allowance so that nurses won’t resign,” she added
She said that the MNU presently has about 27,000 members, representing between 40 to 45 percent of all qualified nurses working in public healthcare in Peninsula Malaysia
PSD’s latest move appears to have caught Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad (above), as well as Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, by surprise, with the latter saying he disagreed with it
The move has also received criticism from government backbencher Kelvin Yii, former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man and the Malaysian Medical Association
Aside from nurses, government-employed nursing lecturers, doctors, pharmacists, medical officers, engineers, lecturers will also be affected by the allowance cut beginning next year
The PSD has since said that it reviews allowances for civil servants “from time to time”. - Mkini

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