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North America

The Washington Office

Contact: Mark Langevin - Subregional Secretary

Address: 1200 18th Street NW #700 - Washington, D.C. 20036 - USA

Telephone: 202-744-0072

Email: mark.langevin@world-psi.org

Defining the Value of Water from a rights-based perspective (New York)

18 July 2018

This side event to the UN High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, co-sponsored by PSI, will focus on recommendations to “value water”. Using a rights-based lens, panelists will explore the ways in which water is valued in communities, cultures and faiths around the world exploring the ways in which market-based strategies have distorted these long-held values and further marginalized segments of the population.

Bargaining for the Common Good in the World of Global Finance (New York)

05 July 2018
Photo: Business and Finance. ©Shutterstock.com

A discussion of what trade unions should know about options within the multilateral system - This one-day strategy session – taking place on the sidelines of the UN HLPF - will bring experts in financial regulation and corporate governance from academia and the UN system together with representatives from trade unions and CSOs.

Partnership or Business Case? Private Sector and the SDGs (New York)

05 July 2018

This side event to the UN High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, co-sponsored by PSI, will discuss the activities and strategies of private sector actors towards the SDG implementation. Does private sector involvement lead to more sustainability, the implementation of the SDGs and positively affect business models and behavior in the long run – or not?

Conversation with the authors of Spotlight on Sustainable Development 2018 (New York)

03 July 2018

The authors of the Spotlight Report 2018 Exploring new policy pathways: How to overcome obstacles and contradictions in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda will present key findings and recommendations to participants for discussion.

The Janus ruling is an effort to manipulate the rights of working people

27 June 2018

The U.S. Supreme Court has delivered a misguided attack on American public sector employees in its recent Janus vs. AFSCME Council 31 ruling, overturning legal precedent and long-established labor relations practice.

National Day of Action on June 30: #FamiliesBelongTogether

26 June 2018

On June 30, join PSI affiliate SEIU, the National Domestic Workers Alliance, ACLU, MoveOn, and United We Dream in rallies across the US for the “Families Belong Together” National Day of Action, demanding an end to the family separation policy of the Trump administration.

Trump has bowed to public pressure

21 June 2018

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has taken steps to formally file a complaint with the United Nations. The zero tolerance policy that separates children from their families violates international law. PSI urges affiliates to join the AFT campaign calling on the United Nation Human Rights Council to take immediate action.

Troubled Waters: Misleading industry PR and the case for public water

15 December 2014

Emanuele Lobina of the PSI Research Unit (PSIRU) and author of a new report "Troubled Waters", commissioned by Corporate Accountability International, argues private water companies could spell disaster for the city's water system

How investor-to-state dispute settlement threatens public welfare and undermines democracy

12 September 2014

Many international trade and investment agreements give individuals and corporations who invest in other countries access to a special legal procedure that can challenge domestic policy decisions in private tribunals. Investors—meaning anyone who buys property in a foreign country, from a hectare of land to stocks and bonds—can use “investor-to-state dispute settlement” (ISDS) to sue governments over laws, regulations and even domestic court decisions that affect current or future profits. You can think of ISDS as establishing special “corporate courts” that have their own rules and that a country’s own citizens cannot use.

Posters: Racism? Not for us!

19 March 2014

Download our posters and speak out and take a stand against racism and xenophobia!

PSI Washington office report - January 2014

13 February 2014

PSI-North America was very busy in the last week of January with a series of meetings to more effectively coordinate the work among affiliates and PSI.

Download a PDF of the report.

Presentation: A new approach to outsourcing

12 February 2014

PSI Canadian and United States affiliates gathered in Washington, D.C. on January 30, 2014 to discuss the attacks on labor rights in North America.

Presentation: Free trade agreements and the public sector

12 February 2014

PSI Canadian and United States affiliates gathered in Washington, D.C. on January 30, 2014 to discuss the attacks on labor rights in North America.

Presentation: Legislative attacks on public employees, public services and labor standards

12 February 2014

PSI Canadian and United States affiliates gathered in Washington, D.C. on January 30, 2014 to discuss the attacks on labor rights in North America.

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.

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.

Accelerating Women’s Economic Empowerment to Achieve the 2030 Agenda

17 July 2017

PSI General Secretary, Rosa Pavanelli, will be speaking on 17 July at the UNSG’s High-Level Panel (HLP) on Women’s Economic Empowerment. The HLP is a side event at the High Level Political Forum (HLPF), currently taking place in New York.

World OutGames: Human Rights Conference (Miami)

18 May 2017

PSI will be attending the upcoming World OutGames Human Rights Conference, a global gathering of internationally respected human rights activists, researchers, legal scholars and organizations, to be held in Miami, USA, 26-28 May 2017.

ITUC/Global Unions and World Bank/IMF High level meetings

31 January 2017

PSI is part of the trade union delegation attending the two and a half days meetings with the IMF and World Bank and will be represented as a discussant in the session on "Joint work towards universal social protection and healthcare"'.

Civil Society Policy Forum (IMF/World Bank 2016 Annual Meetings)

28 September 2016

The Civil Society Policy Forum (CSPF) has become an integral part of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group Spring and Annual Meetings, providing an open space for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to dialogue and exchange views with World Bank Group and IMF staff, their peers, government delegations, and other stakeholders on a wide range of topics.

Photo gallery: PSI at the UN HLD and the PGA

07 October 2013
Monday 30 September 2013
Source: Flickr

PSI at the UN High Level Dialogue on Migration and Development and the Peoples Global Action on Migration, Development and Human Rights, New York (USA), 30 Sept - 4 October 2013.

Rally to reclaim Wisconsin

12 March 2012

On Saturday 10 March 2012, 62,000 Wisconsinites returned to the Capitol to mark the one year anniversary of the passage of Gov. Walker's union-busting bill.

Giant squirrel + ground beef = sick!

15 December 2011

This time, meat inspection is being ransacked. Canadians rely on people like meat inspectors to ensure the food we buy is safe to eat. If you knew inspections were about to be compromised by budget cuts...wouldn't you do something about it?