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Trade union rights news

All work has dignity, and all workers deserve to be treated with respect by their employers. Trade unions play a decisive role in improving working conditions, safety and wages – yet some governments and employers systematically abuse the right of workers to join existing unions or form new ones. PSI works actively to support the right of workers to free collective bargaining, and to help stop abuses when they occur.

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: 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.

Colombia: recognition of public service workers’ rights

24 March 2014

On 18 March 2014, in the presence of the General Secretary of the Senate of the Republic of Colombia, the Minister of Labour, Rafael Pardo Rueda, laid before Congress government bills for the incorporation into national legislation of ILO Convention 135 Concerning Protection and Facilities to be Afforded to Workers’ Representatives in the Undertaking; Convention 149 Concerning Employment and Conditions of Work and Life of Nursing Personnel; and Convention 183 Concerning Maternity Protection. This represents Colombian government compliance with a point in the Labour Agreement reached with public service union federations – FENALTRASE, UNETE, UTRADEC, FENASER, FECOTRASERVIPUBLICOS; the trade union centrals – CUT, CGT and CTC; and Public Services International (PSI) in May 2013 as a result of negotiations at the beginning of 2013 on the National Unified List of Demands presented by public sector trade unions.

Chilean Minister of Labour communicates agenda for public sector to PSI general secretary

24 March 2014
Rosa Pavanelli en Chile

On 14 March, the Chilean Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Javiera Blanco, met senior officials of Public Services International (PSI), led by its General Secretary, Rosa Pavanelli, to hand over details of the work planned by the government of the recently elected president, Michelle Bachelet.

What Women Want: CPSU Australia 2013-2014 survey

24 March 2014
What Women Want

PSI affiliate in Australia, Community & Public Sector Union (CPSU), launched, for the eighth year in a row, a survey on “What Women Want” asking women to give a detailed picture of their working lives. This is Australia’s largest survey on working women, with over 11 200 women participating.

Racism? Not for us!

22 March 2014

Speak out and take a stand against racism and xenophobia! On the eve of the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, 21 March 2014, Rosa Pavanelli, General Secretary of the global union federation Public Services International affirms that “our commitment to fight racism and all forms of discrimination is guided by respect for human rights and basic union principles: social justice, equality, collective action and collective responsibility”.