Memorandum of Undertaking for Disaster Risk Reduction between the local government of Bislig city and the PSILINK union

The Bislig City government committed to work together with its public emergency workers’ union to develop a comprehensive disaster risk assessment for the Bislig city area.

The MoU recognizes that public sector workers make our societies resilient and able to rebuild after extreme weather events such as the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan disaster, which are more frequent and severe with climate change. Signatories acknowledge that preparedness is at the heart of this process and the union’s role in this process is key, therefore, a functioning and effective social dialogue between employers and workers, who are involved as first responders and must enjoy full trade union rights, is the essential condition for a successful disaster preparedness scheme.

This is a good practice of how governments and local authorities must involve public service workers and their unions, increase training, improve health and safety standards, and improve facilities, equipment and communications for the workers dealing with disaster management.