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No Trade in Public Services

The recent wave of trade agreements are direct threats to the provision of Quality Public Services. These new agreements encourage privatisation, restrict governments’ ability to regulate in the public interest and create new and powerful rights for large multinational corporations. They are also a threat to democracy and accountability of government. They are being negotiated in secret, without proper consultation and will bind future governments, often regardless of the decisions of national elections, parliaments and courts. PSI urges all affiliates to understand the implications and join our allies to oppose the harmful effects of these agreements.

Trade unions demand a social dimension to BRICS

04 September 2013

Public Services International (PSI), CSPB and CONDSEF organized the first BRICS Cycle of Debates in Brasilia, 8-10 August 2013, bringing together trade union organizations of public sector workers affiliated to PSI from Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa, with the participation of representatives from China, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Honduras, Peru, Paraguay and Colombia.

Why trade agreements are a new global threat to public services

08 August 2013
New deals, new danger

Recently, the way trade deals are negotiated has changed from WTO multilateral negotiations where hundreds of countries negotiated one agreement and information about negotiations was publically available, to hundreds of separate secret negotiations held behind closed doors.

The secret nature of trade talks held outside of the WTO creates a new challenge for PSI. We must focus our activity on the key threats and better engage and support our affiliates and civil society in the key stakeholder countries.

Global trade strategy meeting

16 April 2013

Public Services International had the strongest global union presence at the World Social Forum 26-30 March 2013 in Tunis, Tunisia. PSI hosted and co-sponsored numerous events on trade union rights, youth, water, women’s issues, tax justice, energy and climate change. PSI attended the Our World Is Not For Sale (OWNFS) global strategy meeting in Tunis in the days leading up to the WSF and co-facilitated the workshop on the International Services Agreement (ISA).

PSI Congress Resolutions

12 March 2013

Resolutions adopted at the 29th World Congress of Public Services International, held in Durban, South Africa, 27-30 November 2012. The resolutions are available in English, French, Spanish, German, Swedish, Japanese and Russian.