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Asia Pacific

PSI's Asia and Pacific region covers 122 unions in 22 countries and related territories with a membership of two million workers. The regional office is based in Singapore. Contact the regional offices.

May Day: forget the elites, it's workers' stories which need to be told

30 April 2018

PSI launches video series featuring 16 stories from nine countries – Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, Italy, USA, Chad, Lebanon, Guatemala and Brazil - to praise the work of public servants around the world.

28 April: fight for safe, healthy and decent workplaces

27 April 2018

7,850 workers die every day from accidents at the workplace or occupational diseases stemming largely from poor working conditions. 2.78 million workers continue to die each year from work-related injuries and illnesses. 2.4 million of these deaths can be attributed to work-related diseases alone.

Global Unions and ITUC protest in Geneva demanding freedom for Lula

27 April 2018
Photo: IndustriALL/CC

On 27 April, PSI together with fellow global unions [IndustriALL, UNI, IUF] and ITUC delivered a letter to the Brazilian mission to the UN, urging the immediate release of former Brazilian President Lula

Trade unions in India meet to counter free trade agenda

26 April 2018

Trade Unions representing workers in Information Technology (IT), Steel, Health-care, Water, Coal, Automotive, Transport, Banking and Insurance met in Bengaluru from 17-18 April for a National Workshop on Trade and Investment Liberalisation: Impacts on Workers in India. The workshop was organised by the Forum against FTAs, Public Services International (PSI), Third World Network (TWN) and Transnational Institute (TNI).

Privatization Watch - 02/2018

26 April 2018

Latest issue of #PrivatizationWatch (02/2018) - The Global newsletter on privatization of public services around the world.

Addressing gender biases and inequities in the health and social care workforce is critical to achieving the SDGs

24 April 2018

PSI’s updated research “Tackling Violence in the Health Sector - A Trade Union Response” was highlighted in a webinar held on March 5 by the WHO’s Global Health Workforce Network (GWHN) thematic hub on Gender Equity in the Health and Social Workforce. The updated publication was one of four submissions in the webinar that showcased the wide range of research, policies and actions to achieve gender-transformative change in the health and social workforce.

Striking nurses win in Delhi, India!

19 April 2018

After a 9 day strike, nurses at the Maharaja Agrasen Hospital in Delhi, India have successfully won better pay, conditions and nurse to patient ratios.

PSI statement on UNCSW62

18 April 2018

Union women from around the world attended the 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW62), which took place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 12-23 March 2018.

86 CSOs sign open letter on PPPs to World Bank Executive Directors

17 April 2018

Among several demands to government representatives at World Bank Board of Directors, Civil Society Organisations call on them to declare a moratorium on funding and promoting Public-Private Partnerships until an independent review is available.

PSI South East Asia defines strategies to implement Programme of Action 2018-2022

17 April 2018

Affiliates from member countries Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand committed to support the subregional and regional priorities and action plan.

Tackling gender-based violence in the world of work – experiences in the health sector

16 April 2018

PSI is pleased to present the updated report entitled “Tackling Violence in the Health Sector - A Trade Union Response”, a consolidated research effort first released in 2016. The 2018 updated version of the study integrates the latest achievements of our affiliated unions in the health sector.

In India, nationwide support for Nurses' Strike at KVM Hospital in Kerala

13 April 2018

On 6 April, the United Nurses Association (UNA) released an open letter to the Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan that demands a fair resolution to the industrial dispute at KVM Hospital in Cherthala, Alappuzha. For more than 6 months, nurses from KVM have been on an indefinite strike demanding for statutory wages and better working conditions. UNA is the union representing the KVM nurses.

Unacceptable and Unfair Treatment of UN Staff based in Bangkok

12 April 2018
Photo: Pong-sul Ahn

If changes are implemented, Bangkok will be the first UN station in the world with three tiers of staffing. This follows a review in 2011 that reduced salaries of local staff in Bangkok by 22%.

Community-based health workers' struggle in Nepal enters a new phase

11 April 2018

Two unions of Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs) in Nepal have decided to work together towards a joint set of demands to amplify their voice and ensure recognition as employees of the government's health system and obtain decent working conditions for their members.

HEALTH FOR ALL: marking the 2018 World Health Day

06 April 2018
Saturday 7 April is the 2018 World Health Day (WHD). This date was chosen to draw global attention to international health every year with a dedicated theme, when the World Health Organization was formed seventy years ago.

On Migrants Day, PSI reiterates its commitment to decent work and social protection for all

15 December 2014
Photo: Gustave Deghilage - Creative Commons

Public Services International (PSI) marks December 18th – International Migrants Day, with continued vigour and commitment to fight for decent work and social protection for migrant workers.

Stand for democracy at work on Human Rights Day!

10 December 2014
SEIU, US. Photo: Carrie Sloan, Creative Commons

“Everyone must enjoy full access to decent work, education, health, safety and peace,” says Rosa Pavanelli, PSI General Secretary. On International Human Rights Day, PSI calls on its affiliates and activists to unite and stand firm against the attack on core labour rights and freedoms.

COP20: The public option in green policies

09 December 2014
Windmills - Photo: Pablo LordFerguson (Creative Commons: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/)

As the UN Climate Change Summit, COP20, in Lima, Peru, draws to an end, PSI highlights the special role of local and national government structures in developing, implementing and monitoring green policies.

Here to stay: Water remunicipalisation as a global trend

01 December 2014
Here to stay

On 13 November 2014, the Transnational Institute (TNI), Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU) and the Multinational Observatory released a new report called “Here to stay: Water remunicipalisation as a global trend”.

Poster: International day for the elimination of violence against women 2014

25 November 2014
International day for the elimination of violence against women

The PSI poster for the International day for the elimination of violence against women, that took place on 25 November 2014, is available for download in English, French and Spanish.

Outcomes of PSI Steering Comittee SC-18

17 November 2014

PSI Steering Committee (SC-18) met in Geneva on 12-13 November 2014.

The agenda covered all items relating to the implementation of the Programme of Action with a special focus on the global campaigns PSI is leading on trade agreements and tax justice.

PSI Asia Pacific bulletin on health & social services

13 November 2014
AP HSS bulletin

This bulletin on health & social services is a quarterly newsletter published by the PSI Asia Pacific region. To subscribe to the newsletter or contribute, please send an email to jkiejda@nswnma.asn.au. The next edition will be made available on this page.

Financing health care: False Profits and the Public Good

12 November 2014

The research “Financing health care: False Profits and the Public Good', by Jane Lethbridge of Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU), University of Greenwich was commissioned by PSI and released on Thursday 13 November at the Australian NSW Nurses and Midwives Association Forum: When profits come first – The true impacts of health privatisation.

PSI Educational Support Workers' Network Survey

20 October 2014

Public Services International affiliates represent hundreds of thousands of educational support workers throughout the world, many of who work without job security, fair compensation and benefits, or recognition that their services are vital to ensuring high quality public education for all citizens. These jobs are on the frontline of the privatization and casualization struggles within the education sector and many of these workers face challenges in pursuing their basic freedom to form a union and collectively bargain for their terms and conditions of service.

PSI Special Report: The Really Good Friends of Transnational Corporations Agreement

30 September 2014

This new report on trade, written by Ellen Gould, was launched by PSI and Our World is not For Sale (OWINFS) at a Global Trade Summit in Washington, D.C., on 15-17 September 2014.

India: Core labour standards not implemented in ADB funded projects

02 September 2014
India - Sewage treatment plant, Kavoor, Mangalore, India. Photo: ADB

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Handbook on Core Labour Standards 2005, committed to comply with the internationally recognized core labour standards (CLS) and related labour laws in the design, formulation and operation of its loans to the developing countries. However the workers in the projects have identified union busting, harassment or physical violence against unions and discrimination and dismissals and other work-related anti-union/worker actions etc. in the projects and the compliance according to the CLS handbook is not strictly observed.

The right to strike and the ILO: the legal foundations

07 July 2014

A new 122-page ITUC legal report, confirming that the right to strike is protected under international law, as employers try to overturn decades of jurisprudence at the International Labour Organisation.

PSI Emergency Resolution on the Right to Strike

30 June 2014

Executive Board of Public Services International, 24-25 June 2014, Nyon, Suisse

Rosa Pavanelli's presentation at the ILC

10 June 2014

Find here the statement read by PSI General Secretary, Rosa Pavanelli, at the International Labour Conference (ILC) on Thursday 5 June 2014.

Briefing on tax justice issues - Asia-Pacific

27 May 2014
Briefing cover

This briefing paper on Asia‐Pacific tax justice issues was prepared for the PSI Asia Pacific QPS Forum that took place on 16-18 October 2013. Officers from PSI Head Office led a session to raise awareness amongst PSI affiliates and affiliates of other Global Union Federations (GUFs) and civic society partners on tax justice priorities.