Quality public services

Representatives of unions affiliated to PSI agreed to make mobilization efforts, partnerships with civil society, lobbying parliaments and campaign material that allows raising public awareness through simple language to explain the negative impact of this type of treaty.

About 40 participants from 14 countries converged in the capital of Kenya from the 6th to the 8th of April to take part in the discussions brought up by the African Regional Executive Committee (AFREC).

The participants of the International Seminar “Public Debt, a global problem: international experiences
and Puerto Rico’s situation” held on March 30, 2016 in San Juan, capital city of Puerto Rico, expressed
their strong support and solidarity with the Puerto Rican people in their struggle to overcome the fiscal,
economic and social crisis they are facing.

At the event organised by the CONTAGUAS and the SGBATOS, workers defended the human right to water and emphasised the importance of public services for guaranteeing this right. They launched a manifesto, which was also signed by the PSI.

On the 26th of February, more than 12,000 nurses under the banner of the All India Government Nurses Federation (AIGNF) were off-duty to protest against “retrograde recommendations” of the 7th Central Pay Commission. In case the government remains deaf to their demands, an indefinite strike will start from the 15th of March on.

This is the conclusion reached by Verónica Montúfar, PSI World Gender and Equity Coordinator. "Where there are no health services, women act as nurses. Where there are no schools, women provide an education for their children. In the absence of public services, women provide them."

In 2016, we should honour the February Strike, not just because those who took action were later tortured and even executed. Rather, we must ask ourselves, as trade unions, as members of the labour movement: what are we doing? Are we ready to take the risks necessary to confront the austerity-fueled resurgence of racism and national chauvinism across Europe and other parts of the world?

Members from different social organizations and trade unions came out on February 4 to the streets to protest against the TPPA, signed at the same day in New Zealand by 12 countries, including Chile, Mexico, Peru, United States and Canada.