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Inter-America

In North, Central and South America and the Caribbean, 140 labor organizations in 35 countries are affiliated to PSI, with a total membership of about 3.3 million workers. The regional office is currently based in São Paulo, Brazil. Contact the regional offices.

Human rights to water and sanitation lead the way to leaving no one behind, says UN expert

21 March 2019

The call to action comes from Léo Heller, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation.

Addressing the human rights implications of privatization for women and girls

14 March 2019
This interactive side event to #CSW63, jointly organised by PSI, FEMNET and APWLD and opened by UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, Philip Alston, focused with a human rights-based perspective on the privatization of public services.

There Can Be No Gender Equality Without Quality Public Services

11 March 2019

In an Op-ed published around the world, Rosa Pavanelli, PSI General Secretary, writes about gender responsive quality public services and how women and girls are also the most impacted when countries offer poor basic facilities. Women´s access to social protection, gender-responsive quality public services and infrastructure is a priority of the international community and the main theme of UNCSW63, in which PSI is participating as part of the global union delegation.

A Quantum Leap for Gender Equality: For a Better Future of Work for All

11 March 2019

This new ILO report highlights key gender gaps and obstacles to decent work for women.

8 March - Women’s struggles need to be more bold and radical than ever

07 March 2019

Women’s Day is not a moment to celebrate the feminine. It is a day for political upheaval. Only by placing women’s struggles at the heart of labour action can we achieve the meaningful progress which generations of women have fought for. Read the PSI statement here.

This International Women’s Day, let’s call time on gender-based violence

07 March 2019

Gender-based violence blights the lives of millions of women. It excludes women from the world of work and often stigmatises them within their communities. Read the ITUC statement here.

Privatization scheme bribery case ends with guilty plea on least serious charge

19 February 2019

A series of criminal trials over a bribery scandal over a P3 privatization scheme ended last week with people admitting that $22.5 million in bribes were paid, but with no one being convicted of actually paying them. For those naïve enough to believe that the justice system does a good job of policing the privatization industry, it was a very bad week.

Support Fair and Ethical Recruitment: #NoRecruitmentFees

14 February 2017
Join the PSI campaign to abolish the practice of charging recruitment fees on migrant workers. Sign on to the Manifesto and use it to shift policy and practice towards fair and ethical recruitment. #NoRecruitmentFees

Stand with the Pearson 100 and let your voice be heard

25 April 2016
Tell Pearson - Private Schools in Developing countries

Public employee and education unions have mobilized a global capital campaign in support of shareholders resolution at the Pearson PLC Annual General Meeting.

Water and Sanitation are Human Rights, NOW!

21 March 2016
logo

On 22 March, PSI celebrated World Water Day. The UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 requires that governments ensure universal access to water and sanitation by 2030. However, we are seeing a new push for public-private partnerships (PPPs). We know that PPPs fail to deliver social and environmental targets, and PSI will help affiliates block this approach. We call for a rights-based approach, with public finance and management in the interests of all.

8th of March: Transforming the world of work for equal pay

06 March 2016
poster no difference at work

Public Services International (PSI) promotes the work of women trade unionists and stands united with all of our sisters who deliver vital public services. From the 8th of March to Friday the 25th, PSI joins its members around the world in celebrating women and their achievements.

Government of Ecuador wants to overturn democratically elected rector of university

22 January 2016
César Montaño

The government of Ecuador is trying to overturn the democratically elected rector of the Andean University of Simon Bolivar. PSI has recently sent a letter of solidarity to our brothers and sisters of the faculty and professional-technical union. Please send your own letter of solidarity!

Join the social media storm against fracking

08 December 2015
Ban Fracking

Public Services International (PSI) is supporting the Food & Water Watch initiative to Ban fracking Now.

Please join the social media storm on 10 December!

Campaign to restore trade union rights in Ecuador

20 August 2015
Workers demonstrate in Quito, Ecuador

The United Collective of Workers, Social and Indigenous Organisations of Ecuador held a national strike on 13 August to demand the Ecuadorian government to rectify their restrictive rights policy. Since then, trade unions and indigenous and civil society organizations have continued to demonstrate in Quito, the Amazon region and the south of the country.

Case study: Workplace Violence - Argentina

16 April 2018
PSI’s World Women’s Committee (WOC) agreed that a high priority area of work is workplace violence in the health sector. The experiences of affiliates in raising awareness and developing campaigns and actions to eliminate workplace violence will contribute to the discussions and preparation for developing an ILO standard (convention and recommendations) on violence against women and men at work. This case study was prepared in August 2016 as part of PSI’s contribution to the ILO tripartite experts meeting and is part of the 2018 updated report “Tackling Violence in the Health Sector”.

Tackling Violence in the Health Sector - A Trade Union Response

16 April 2018
This report on trade union preparedness and actions to tackle violence against women and men in the world of work, was first released in 2016. In 2018, an updated version of the study is being released, integrating the latest achievements of our affiliated unions in the health sector. The workers, many of whom are women, daily face ever-increasing levels of violence and harassment in the world of work. They respond and deliver quality service with deepest commitment and ethical principles.

Executive Summary - Tackling Violence in the Health Sector

14 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.

Open letter from Rosa Pavanelli to the international trade union movement on the recent events involving the ILO Governing Body

28 March 2018

"The method and content of the actions of the Workers’ Group leadership is the latest episode revealing a structural lack of cooperation, solidarity and democracy among the global trade unions. We regret to say that with this action PSI has lost confidence and trust in the Workers’ Group leadership", says the PSI's General Secretary.

Gender-neutral job evaluation study in Chile

06 March 2018

The Government of Chile and PSI affiliate ANEF, with the technical support of the ILO, have carried out a gender-neutral job evaluation study in Chile that is being published in Spanish on the occasion of International Women’s Day. The key findings were presented during the 4th Global Forum: Business for Gender Equality - The Future of Work in the 2030 Agenda that was held on 27-28 February in Santiago de Chile.

Ontario Pay Equity Results for CUPE Service Workers in Ontario Hospitals: A Study of Uneven Benefits

01 March 2018

In view of International Women’s Day on 8 March, PSI is reviving a debate about pay equity presented in the study entitled: “Ontario Pay Equity Results for CUPE Service Workers in Ontario Hospitals: A Study of Uneven Benefits” written by Jane Stinson, a Canadian political economist.

Privatisation of Migration & Refugee Services & Other Forms of State Disengagement

11 December 2017

This research, written by Jane Lethbridge, Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU), examines the effects of the privatisation of services for refugees and migrants at national and international level.

Debt Sustainability and Financing for Development in the Caribbean (St Lucia)

29 June 2018

The "Debt sustainability and financing for development in the Caribbean" workshop will take place on 3 July in Castries, St Lucia. Affiliates will examine case studies and provide information on the experiences in some countries and learn more about the on-going work of our potential coalition partners.

Tax Justice Network’s annual conference (Lima)

13 June 2018

The Tax Justice Network’s annual conference "Paradise lost? Inequality and tax injustice" is taking place this Wednesday 13 June to Thursday 14 June in Lima, Peru. The conference, jointly hosted with FES and Latindadd, brings together campaigners, researchers, policy makers and tax experts from across the world to share the inspiring and vital work they are doing on tax justice.

The Future is Public (Montreal)

12 June 2018

The Future is Public is a two-day gathering of union leaders, activists, researchers, and community groups designed to share ideas and proposals around building a pro-public movement in Canada.

PSI North America SUBRAC (Washington)

12 June 2018
PSI North American affiliates from the USA and Canada will be meeting in Washington 14-15 June. The meeting has a heavy agenda before it with a special focus on anti-privatization campaigns and trade issues.

UN Conference of State Parties to the Convention of Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

12 June 2018
Shutterstock

PSI is participating for the first time in the Conference of State Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) held in New York from 12-14 June. PSI is also jointly organising a side event on 13 June, to identify how Social Dialogue is, or could be, used to ensure the implementation of the CRPD.

Inter-American Regional Executive Committee & Women’s Committee - IAMREC/IAMWOC (Panama)

04 June 2018

Between the 1st and 3rd of August, the meeting of the Inter-American Regional Executive Committee (IAMREC) will be held in Panama City. On the same occasion, the meeting of the Regional Women's Committee of Inter-American PSI and an international seminar on corporate power will take place.

Global conference of the Platform for Collaboration on Tax: “Taxation and the Sustainable Development Goals”

15 February 2018
Photo: Chris Potter - Creative Commons

As part of its global campaign for tax justice, PSI is co-hosting a side-event on 16 February at the First Global Conference of the Platform for Collaboration on Tax. The side event will focus on The role of tax policy in reducing intersecting inequalities and achieving the SDGs.

Video: Brazil - cuts and privatisation damaging health and other public services

01 June 2015

In this video, Juneia Batista, WOC Chair, talks about the situation in her home country, Brazil. She says that 2015 has started poorly, with the government introducing new measures to allow foreign capital into the Brazilian health system.

Video: Unions in Latin America are fighting for trade union rights and quality public services

29 May 2015

Representatives of PSI affiliates met in Geneva on 27-28 May 2015 for the PSI Executive Board meeting. In this interview, Omar Autón, Unión del Personal Civil de la Nación, Argentina, describes the situation in Latin America. Unions are fighting for trade union rights, the right to strike, unionization, collective bargaining, and to obtain quality public services. The video is in Spanish.

Photos: IAMRECON 2015

28 April 2015
Mexico City
Source: Flickr

Hundreds of trade union leaders from the inter-american region met in Mexico City, 20-24 April for the PSI Inter-American regional conference and related meetings.

Video: Why Public-Private Partnerships don’t work

16 March 2015

In this video, PSI Deputy General Secretary David Boys introduces the new publication “Why Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) don’t work” by Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU).

This is what energy democracy looks like

10 March 2015

With climate change looming, we are facing an energy emergency. How can unions fight for change? Watch and share TUED's new animated video on energy democracy.

Video: Rosa Pavanelli at the UN High-Level session on advancing gender equality

09 March 2015

Rosa Pavanelli, PSI General Secretary, addresses the UN High-level panel session on advancing gender equality in New York, 6 March 2015.

Video: Celeste Drake Trade & Globalization, AFL-CIO, USA

17 October 2014

"Agreement by agreement the policy space for governments is diminished then workers who live in democracies find out that their democracies can't be as responsive as they should be. [...] These kind of agreements cannot be made behind the workers backs, behind closed doors" says Celeste Drake, keynote speaker at PSI’s Global Trade in Services Forum, From GATS to TISA, held in partnership with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) and the Our World Is Not For Sale (OWINFS) network.