PSI General Secretary Peter Waldorff presents Quality Public Services as an important answer to the global crises.

On 23 June 2008, PSI marked the first Public Service Day with the launch of a resource toolkit for affiliates. Together with Oxfam International and Education International, PSI also called on governments to increase funding for essential public services.

Union representatives from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and the Palestinian Territories recently attended a workshop in Beirut to share campaigning experiences. This was just one step in a long journey towards union independence.

On a recent visit to Colombia, four Canadian trade union leaders confirmed their opposition to the Canada–Colombia free trade agreement.

The Hungarian electricity industry, which employs around 18,000 workers, was privatised in 1995, with investors including multinationals E.ON, RWE and EDF, and other private companies. However, the basic network, a nuclear power station and some other companies remain in state ownership under the Hungarian Power Companies Ltd (MVM). A bilateral electricity forum has been in place since 1994, where the Association of Electric Energy Companies (VTMSZ) represents 80% of employers, and three trade unions negotiate on behalf of employees.

Coinciding with the official G8 summit in Hokkaido, Japan, an alternative summit focused on issues ignored by world leaders. PSI Regional Secretary Katsuhiko Sato and Public Services Advocacy Officer Svend Robinson took the lead in calling for quality public services.

When Juliet Young felt the needle puncture her skin, she experienced the same fear that is felt by thousands of health workers worldwide who sustain needlestick injuries.

At the recent AIDS 2008 conference, PSI representatives made the case that ensuring protection for members should be an integral part of efforts to deal with the epidemic.

Women trade unionists from all over Africa gathered at a PSI workshop in Durban, South Africa, on 29–31 June 2008, to share their experiences working with the Water, Women and Workers campaign.

At the PSI World Women’s Committee meeting in Brussels, Belgium, in May 2008, the participants discussed PSI’s work to promote gender equality and enhance women’s professional position.

The May meeting this year of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) brought together ministers from all UN countries to negotiate new policies on energy, industrial development, air pollution and climate change.

Eliminating discrimination and violence against the girl child was the theme of the 51st session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, held in New York, 26 February-9 March.

The GAPS project - the proposed General Agreement on Public Services - is gaining momentum. Currently, the project involves a small number of partners: PSI, the EPSU, Public World and One World Action, with others following the development with a likely involvement in the near future: Education International, the International Transport Workers’ Federation, Water Aid, and Consumers International.

PSI will be celebrating its centennial at its Congress on 24 - 28 September in Vienna, Austria. When planning for the Congress started in 2002, it was agreed that PSI should commission a history book. It is now being printed and is called Fighting for Public Services: better lives, a better world.

The International Labour Office (ILO) has issued a major new report on the state of discrimination in the world of work. The report, entitled Equality at work: Tackling the challenges examines the status of traditional and new forms of discrimination and analyses progress in combating them at the national and global levels.

More women then ever before are in work, but a persistent gap in status, job security, wages and education between women and men is contributing to the “feminisation of working poverty”, according to a new report by the International Labour Office (ILO).

Rural health care workers and the urban multipurpose health workers are the backbone of India’s health sector. They number many millions and are, by any standard, exploited and underpaid. In spite of deplorable working conditions, these women are dedicated to their role as carers.

Each year, the PSI head office conducts a workshop for international officers of affiliates. The course aims to facilitate cooperation by ensuring a mutual understanding of policies, campaigns and procedures.

The Irish trade union IMPACT has launched a campaign to defend public servants, who it says are unfairly criticised in an imbalanced debate about service quality and staff performance.

The sixth joint PSI/ILO Pay Equity Discussion forum was held in Geneva on 20 February. Nora Wintour and Chidi King (PSI) and Manuela Tomei (ILO) opened the forum, which was attended by representatives of PSI, other Global Union Federations and ILO staff.

PSI sent a delegation to the Philippines from 12-15 February to examine the state of trade union rights in the country. Extrajudicial killings there have left over 800 killed, including about 80 trade unionists in the last year alone. Thousands more suffer from intimidation and harassment, either due to their political affiliation, trade union activities or the exposure of graft and corruption cases.

During the first PSI Public Sector Forum (held in Geneva last November), six major themes emerged as key ‘future’ issues for public services, public sector workers and, indeed, the broader community. Forum participants were asked to focus on these themes, on what a better future would look like and to identify four key things that PSI and affiliates could do to stay on top of the issues.

The world lacks more than four million health care workers and this has been clearly stated by the World Health Organisation. This means that every country in the world has a shortage of health care workers. But where will these millions come from? A quick fix for rich countries is to recruit them in poorer ones. PSI is now campaigning for a code of practice in the international recruitment of health care workers.

PSI affiliates marked the days between International Women’s Day on March 8 and World Water Day on March 22 by pointing to the importance of public ownership and management of water for women and gender equality. They organised vigils, round tables, delegations to meet government’s officials and visits to water plants…

On April 24, all resolutions scheduled for discussion at the PSI Congress in September in Vienna were mailed to all affiliates, as well a summary table of all proposed workshops that will occur throughout the Congress. All information is also on the PSI Congress website: www.psi100.org

Ten years ago, PSI published a comic book about the World Bank in which we pictured World Bank officials as people wearing tinted glasses, refusing to see day-to-day reality. Then, some people criticized us for being too provocative.

“A growing number of people are victims of discrimination related to their race, skin colour or nationality in their workplaces or communities.” This is the opening statement of the resolution adopted by the second Meeting against Racism, held in Miami, USA, in December 2006. Dozens of PSI affiliates in the American hemisphere took part in this event.

The first mailout for the PSI Centennial Congress has been sent to all affiliates. The Congress will be in Vienna on September 24-28.

A first Public Sector Forum was held in Geneva last November. The idea was to explore the likely future scenarios facing public services and public sector unions.

Partly as a result of the PSI Quality Public Services campaign to promote quality, three parties in the Norwegian labour market have entered a historical co-operation agreement to enhance quality in the municipal sector. The government plans to invest in welfare and has allocated the equivalent of 2.2 billion euros more to the municipalities over a two-year period.