Africa and Arab countries

PSI General Secretary Rosa Pavanelli has written to Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan to warn of the inevitable disaster of electricity sector privatisation and the minimum requirements to respect collective agreements and all transition arrangements.

ILO Director-General Guy Ryder met with trade union respresentatives, including PSI affiliate SNAPAP, on 16th April, during his visit to Algeria for the 40th Arab Labour Conference in Algiers.

For more than seven months, Dr. Karabus, 78, a pediatric oncologist, has been trapped in the United Arab Emirates, fighting charges of manslaughter and forgery linked to his treatment of a 3-year-old patient with a severe form of leukemia who had died under his care.

Public Services International had the strongest global union presence at the World Social Forum 26-30 March 2013 in Tunis, Tunisia. PSI hosted and co-sponsored numerous events on trade union rights, youth, water, women’s issues, tax justice, energy and climate change. PSI organised this workshop that examined how a fundamental human right, ILO Convention 87 on Freedom of Association is given effect in different countries.

This workshop, organised by PSI and its affiliates at the World Social Forum in Tunis, explored how trade unions around the world are supporting the empowerment of women and making gender issues and women more visible and effective in their organisations and in society. Special attention was given to pay equity policies and actions to end violence against women.

The world is facing a worsening youth employment crisis: young people are three times more likely to be unemployed than adults and over 75 million youth worldwide are looking for work. Trade unions play an important role in providing a voice for young workers.