LOOK: Nurse Frontliners Seek Pay Hike, More Benefits

The Filipino Nurses United held a motorcade around the Philippine General Hospital in Manila on Thursday to demand higher pay and adequate protection as they face the coronavirus pandemic.

Nurses in government hospitals secured an increase in wages and benefits under a recent budget department circular. It did not cover those in private hospitals. The FNU said the daily wage of nurses in private hospitals is below the P537 rate in Metro Manila. A monthly salary of P5,000 to P10,000 is "insultingly low," it said.

The group earlier demanded that private sector nurses be covered by Labor Code benefits and hazard pay during a national health emergency. These include free medical-grade personal protective equipment, mandatory RT-PCR COVID-19 testing every 15 days, and paid 14 days quarantine period.