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Solidarity with Guatemala

Violation of trade union rights is rampant in Guatemala, where more than 80 trade union leaders have been murdered in in recent years.

The ILO supervisory bodies have been examining this situation for many years, but the progress achieved is limited. As a result, workers’ delegates lodged a complaint against the country during the International Labour Conference in 2012. The Department of Labor of the United States of America has reached similar conclusions under the review mechanism of labor clause of the Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Central America and the Dominican Republic (CAFTA-DR). Successive governments in Guatemala have pledged several times to address and remedy this situation, the last of these attempts being the adoption of the Roadmap in 2013.

PSI missions visited the country in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017, and created the PSI Coordination Group, which has been campaigning to strengthen the trade union movement and leading the efforts to achieve a significant improvement on matters related to freedom of association in the country.

Drab på faglige ledere er hverdag i Guatemala

27 May 2014

Af Lene Frøslev og Unna Küssner, Ulandssekretariatet LO/FTF Council - 19. maj 2014

Victory for the SNTSG and Guatemala’s President commits to C151

31 March 2014
Press Conference

PSI organised its annual regional conference, IAMREC, in Guatemala City from 24 to 28 March and followed up on its first international mission in August 2013, meeting with the President General Otto Perez Molina, the Minister of Health, the Deputy Minister of Labour, Ministry of Interior, the General Procurator for human rights, the EU Ambassador, US solidarity center and the UN High Commissioner’s Office for Human rights.

Speech by PSI leader to Guatemalan President

31 March 2014
Rosa Pavanelli in the Press Conference

Speech by Rosa Pavanelli, PSI General Secretary, to Otto Pérez Molina, President of Guatemala on 27 March 2014

Speech: PSI leader addresses FNL Congress in Guatemala

31 March 2014
Rosa Pavanelli - FNL Congress

PSI leader Rosa Pavanelli made a keynote address to the Congress of the Frente Nacional de Lucha (FNL) the rapidly growing people's movement in Guatemala that includes many PSI affiliate union members. Some 11,000 people attended this historic event on the last weekend of March 2014.

PSI mission to Guatemala

26 March 2014

A PSI international delegation has returned to Guatemala in March 2014 to follow-up on the trade union rights and solidarity mission made in August 2013.

No free trade without trade union rights

16 December 2013
No free trade without trade union rights

Members of the European Parliament recently heard a special presentation from PSI and leaders of the National Health Workers’ Union of Guatemala, Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de Salud de Guatemala (SNTSG), on why special free trade provisions should be suspended with Guatemala until the deadly campaign against trade unionists is ended in that country.

Event: Trade union rights in Guatemala

26 November 2013

Please join us to meet Luis Lara and Dora Regina, the leaders of PSI affiliate SNTSG (Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Salud) and leaders of the Frente Nacional de Lucha : They have come to Brussels to meet the EU Parliament and European trade unionists. Dora and Luis will give a short talk, followed by a reception.

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.

Resolution 15: Against impunity in Guatemala

30 November 2012

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