“We Want Your Nurses!”: Negotiating Labor Agreements in Recruiting Filipino Nurses

Nurse migration is a significant global issue that necessitates the cooperation of host and sending states. Cooperation enables countries to collaborate on shared solutions to confront global nurse imbalance that threatens health systems. While cooperation allows countries to collaborate, some states are cautious to cooperate while others participate actively. This article examines the bilateral labor negotiations between the Philippines and the following host countries: Canadian provinces—Saskatchewan (2006), Manitoba and Alberta (2006–2008), and South Australia (2008–2009) to demonstrate how bilateral parties negotiate agreements in hiring Filipino nurses. Drawing from negotiation analysis, it argues that bilateral negotiations that fulfill two necessary conditions‐ (i) participation of nonpartisan technical expert and (ii) history of previous interactions—facilitate successful negotiations that ultimately lead to labor cooperation. This article concludes by explaining how negotiation analysis uncovers the advantage of labor‐sending countries like the Philippines in successfully securing agreements that promote labor export to achieve economic growth.