FNHP program and policy council chair Candice Owley and vice chair Ann Twomey presented a workshop on key issues facing nurses and other health care workers around the world at a conference of the International Council of Nurses in London last June.

Sponsored by Public Services International, the workshop focused on issues common to nurses worldwide. "This conference has shown how small the world is and how similar our problems are," Twomey says. "Health care is seen as a business around the world, mostly concerned with costs and profits. The trends are using fewer full-time workers and more part-time or temporary workers, shifting hospital care to home care and clinics, and privatizing health care in every country."

Owley discussed the need for comprehensive whistleblower protection for health care workers, using her union's "6 for Safety" campaign as one example.

Earlier in the day, Owley and Twomey were invited to participate in a press conference sponsored by Unison--Britain's largest union with 1.3 million members--as the union prepared its members for the new Public Interest Disclosure Act, which went into effect July 2. The legislation protects all workers who speak out against corruption and malpractice from retaliation or dismissal. Unison General Secretary Rodney Bickerstaffe and Department of Trade and Industry Minister Ian McCartney were featured speakers at the event.