In the thread about joining ILCA to get lactation consultancy out of the
fringe and into the mainstream, I have to put in my 30 ml.
I pay membership dues to the professional association that is my bargaining
agent in salary matters and that goes to bat for me on the job.  In my book,
the people who don't pay their dues are getting a free ride on the backs of
paying members, and they are just marginally above what I was brought up to
call 'scab labor'.  I pay dues to voluntary organizations that do work I
want to support, in the service of breastfeeding and several other things.
It is a rare professional association that can function as bargaining agent
across international borders, so rare that I am not aware of any in
existence.  Different countries have such different systems for organizing
and financing health care services, for education, designation and licensing
of health professionals, that it would seem impossible for one international
organization to represent the interests of employees with one particular
international credential.  I do not expect ILCA to represent my interests as
a clinician working with breastfeeding in Norway.  I expect my union to do
that, and I let them know it in no uncertain terms.  There is no such animal
as a lactation consultant in the zoological gardens of the Norwegian health
service.  There are several species with LC characteristics, and all of them
are represented by unions who will argue that their pay should reflect the
special competence they hold in the field of lactation consultancy.
I am not sure what I expect from ILCA on a world wide basis beyond
publishing a top-flight journal.  I do expect that whatever they do, be
equally applicable to ALL members, whatever their country of residence, in
order to justify the similar dues they pay.  Other fields have international
confederations to which the corresponding national groups belong, and it is
the confederations who form international policy on behalf of the
profession.  I am most familiar with the International Confederation of
Midwives.  One of the things they do is help midwives in countries without
organizations for midwives, to start such groups.  They contribute to the
development of educational programs for midwives, and they advocate
credentialing according to common criteria to be used in all countries.  But
it is not possible to be an individual member of the ICM; your national
association is a member, on your behalf.  This is more what I expect of
ILCA, I think.
Rachel Myr
midwife, IBCLC
Kristiansand, Norway

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