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Local and Regional Government/Municipal sector

Local and regional governments (LRG)/municipal sector workers run essential services in cities, metropolitan areas and territories servicing millions of people and communities every day. Our members work in public administrations; public utilities such as water and sanitation, electricity, and solid waste. They operate public transport and maintain public spaces; work in social, culture and education services such as libraries, museums, kindergartens, schools and universities. They are health and social services workers. Firefighters, emergency, medical first responders and municipal police are also among LRG/municipal workers. PSI defends and promotes the union and labour rights of LRG/municipal workers and advocates their decent working and living conditions so that they can sustainably deliver accessible, quality public services to the local communities and territories they serve and successfully confront the many challenges posed by rapid urbanization and globalization. Join the discussion on PSI's LRG/Municipal Workers Facebook Group.

World Cities Day 2017: Municipal workers make cities happen!

25 October 2017

PSI has chosen 31 October – UN “World Cities Day” - to launch a global visual campaign aimed at raising awareness about the work of municipal public service professionals with a view to increasing their visibility and presenting a positive perception of the many essential public services they deliver every day to cities and metropolitan areas.

Twenty young African trade unions leaders gathered in Abuja to discuss remunicipalisation

16 October 2017

Twenty young workers, representing 16 trade unions from Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana and Nigeria, met in Abuja on 11-12 September to attend a workshop sponsored by IMPACT and Kommunal about the remunicipalisation of public services.

Women municipal workers in Brazil and the Southern Cone meet to bridge gender gap in the sector

26 September 2017

For the first time since the launch of the PSI Confederation of Municipal Workers’ Unions of the Americas (CONTRAM-PSI), more than 60 municipal sector trade unionists met in Asuncion, Paraguay, on 7 September, to discuss the labour and trade union situation of women workers in the sector.

Localizing the SDGs: local and regional governments actions for poverty eradication and prosperity

17 July 2017

PSI General Secretary, Rosa Pavanelli, spoke at the recent UCLG/GTF side-event at the UN High-level political forum on sustainable development emphasizing that "taxation is a key lever to beat inequality, ensure socio-economic inclusion and the SDGs".

PPP: Corporations divert UN agenda, claims civil society report

13 July 2017

New York, 13 July 2017: Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), usually portrayed as a useful tool towards sustainable development, actually “involve disproportionate risks and costs for people and the public purse”, claims a global coalition of civil society organizations and trade unions in the Spotlight Report 2017 launched earlier this week.

Four critical steps to operationalize the New Urban Agenda’s transformative commitment to decent work and inclusive and sustainable cities

12 July 2017

Extract from the Civil Society Report "Spotlight on Sustainable Development 2017" -the new global report assesses how privatization and corporate capture have become obstacles to progress under the 2030 Agenda.

World Bank plan to mobilize “trillions” will not help the poor

11 July 2017

Global Spotlight Report says that the proposed “cascade” of private financing for infrastructure will result in more corruption, high fees for essential services, and massive resource transfers to the rich from the poor.

Civil society groups reclaim policies for the public

07 July 2017

Launching on the opening day of the High Level Political Forum at the United Nations in New York this new global report assesses how privatization and corporate capture have become obstacles to progress under the 2030 Agenda.

LRG/Municipal workers' newsletter

03 July 2017

We are pleased to share with you the first newsletter for our LRG/Municipal workers' network. The newsletter compiles all news and information on the sector since the launch of the network in September 2016.

EDF’s astonishing hypocrisy : during global talks on corporate social responsibility, EDF subsidiary in Belgium illegally fires workers

30 June 2017

On 29 June, 14 workers of EDF Luminus were summarily dismissed, without prior notifications, consultations, negotiations (one worker on sick leave was fired by SMS) – in apparent violation of a number of sectoral and national laws and regulations.

Reclaiming Public Services: How cities and citizens are turning back privatisation

26 June 2017

Reclaiming Public Services is vital reading for anyone interested in the future of local, democratic services like energy, water and health care. This is an in-depth world tour of new initiatives in public ownership and the variety of approaches to deprivatisation.

UN Public Services Awards: Paris water win highlights benefits of remunicipalisation

23 June 2017

Seven years ago the City of Paris brought their water supply back into public hands. Today they received one of the highest international public service awards at a special UN ceremony at The Hague.

CTM and PSI take municipal workers’ union rights to the fore at the International Labour Conference 2017

13 June 2017

On 6 June 2017, in a public debate held during the International Labour Conference (ILC) at the International Labour Organization (ILO), a delegation from PSI Argentinean affiliate the Municipal Workers’ Confederation (CTM) shared the struggle that led to Act 14656 on Labour Relations and Collective Bargaining in the Province of Buenos Aires (“Paritarias Act”) and the challenges that remain to uphold it with over 60 ILC delegates from Latin America, Africa, Asia, Europe and Arab countries. 

Three ways trade unions are making cities and local communities more equitable and inclusive

06 June 2017

In their position on Habitat III and subsequent submissions to UN Habitat on the Zero Draft of the New Urban Agenda (NUA), trade unions elaborated and advocated a set of practicable policy recommendations that continues to be a reference towards making urban and local economies sustainable and inclusive for all and generating decent work in cities and local communities. These commitments are contained in the final text of the New Urban Agenda (NUA) adopted on 23 December 2016 by the UN Council, which is now to be honoured by UN member states.

Collective Bargaining in the Municipal Public Sector

06 June 2017

PSI is jointly organising a panel debate with the Municipal Workers’ Confederation of Argentina (CTM) and the Confederation of Municipal Workers of the Americas (CONTRAM-ISP AMERICAS) on the issue of Collective Bargaining in the Municipal Public sector focusing on the experiences and challenges from the Province of Buenos Aires and specifically on Act 14656 on Labour Relations and Collective Bargaining.

Resolution 3: Building a disaster-resilient society through the enhancement of public services

30 November 2012

The 29th World Congress of Public Services International (PSI), meeting in Durban, South Africa, on 27-30 November 2012

Re-municipalising municipal services in Europe

27 August 2012

Privatisation, contracting out and outsourcing have been the dominant trends in public services. Now there is increasing evidence of trends in the opposite direction, according to a report from EPSU.

Private government "with" public money? Municipal corporations and local utilities in six Italian regions

30 July 2012

Since the early 1990s, in Italy the corporatization of public bodies has become a prominent phenomenon, especially at the local level and in the domain of public utilities. In the context of a very fragmented and somewhat contradictory national legislative framework, the number of Italian municipal corporations has recently passed 5000 units, and represents a complex puzzle of diverse governance models and ownership structures.

City of Bergkamen: Powerpoint presentation

30 May 2012

A powerpoint presentation on the city of Bergkamen by Roland Schäfer Mayor of the City of Bergkamen, President of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities and Vice-President of the Confederation of Towns and Municipalities of the European Union, at the EPSU Annual Conference Local and Regional Government in May 2012.

Presentation of the PSIRU report "Re-municipalisation of public services in Europe"

30 August 2011

A presentation by Dave Hall, PSIRU on the re-municipalisation of public services in Europe.

Effects of contracting out public sector tasks

30 August 2011

A presentation of the results of a research-based review of Danish and international studies from 2000-2011

Annual Report 2010

05 April 2011

In the face of widening cuts to public services and attacks on the rights of public sector workers around the world, leaders of private and public sector trade unions, municipal governments and civil society groups made the unprecedented joint commitment to work together to promote investment in quality public services backed by fair taxation policies as the key solution to the economic crisis, and the best way to build peaceful, equitable, democratic and environmentally-sustainable societies.

Annual Report 2009

03 April 2010

Environmental and social sustainability provided the primary theme for PSI’s work in 2009. Leading into the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 15) in Copenhagen in December, trade unions and civil society allies worked hard to ensure that world leaders would agree on an ambitious plan to reduce carbon emissions. Alas, this dream did not become reality. But we are committed to continuing this struggle and achieving real results.

Annual Report 2008

03 April 2009

Looking back at 2008 the one word that comes to mind is CHANGE. We saw a dramatic change in the global economy, it was the keyword in the US election and we initiated changes in PSI.

Defending universally-accessible quality public services: a central challenge for municipal workers unions

20 November 2008

A powerpoint presentation by Jorge Mancillas, PSI Health and Municipal Services Officer, at the meeting on "Strategies to deal with privatisation of municipal services" jointly organised by PSI and its Norwegian affiliate, Fagforbundet, in Oslo, Norway from 26 to 28 November 2008.