Information for activities in Mexico during the week of IAMRECON 2015

1. Sectoral workshops (held simultaneously on April 20 from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and on April 21 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.) - involving workers in 10 sectors: Customs, Central Administration, Education support, Water, State Control, Energy, Justice departments and agencies, Municipalities, Health and related services, Legislature.
2. Cross-cutting or Transversal meetings with the Regional Committees (April 21 from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.) - four simultaneous meetings: Women workers, Young workers, the committee combating Racism and Xenophobia, the committee promoting the rights of Lesbian Gay Bi-sexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) workers.
3. Seminar: Experiences of struggles against privatization and in support of decent work contracts (April 21 from 6:30 p.m to 8:30 p.m.)
4. Thematic seminars (simultaneous sessions on April 22 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) - four central themes: Climate Change, Tax Justice, Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Pension Funds.
5. The Inter-American Regional executive Committee meeting (IAMREC) (April 22 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.)
6. Orientation meeting for new attendees (April 22 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.)
7. Preparatory meeting for the 104^th session of the International Labour, Geneva, June 2015  (April 22 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.)

About the meetings preceding IAMRECON:

When workers enjoy the full human and trade union rights and are able to live with dignity and improve their standard of living, they are better able to provide quality public services. It is through quality public services that we achieve and maintain societies that are equitable and sustainable for each and all of us.

The activities preceding IAMRECON place attention on the Conference's theme, "Advancing with trade union rights in the fight for quality public services!"

An important element of all these activities is to identify ways to improve internal communication between PSI and the affiliated members and to recommend strategies that will change the status quo.

1- Sectoral workshops (April 20 - 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and April 21 - 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.)

Members will recall the decision of the 2012 World Congress to continue to build and strengthen PSI's sectorial work through effective sectoral structures in all regions. The 2013 document - "Working for the alternative"- also highlighted some important guidelines for the organisation:

1. PSI’s priorities will be conducted through our sectors;
2. PSI affiliates will advise on practical and appropriate ways on how the (sub) regions may establish sectorial structures and conduct sectorial work.

Each sectorial workshop will aim to provide opportunities for representatives in the various sectors to:

• share success stories and lessons learned, promoting and building solidarity across different subregions of PSI Americas;
• discuss trends, obstacles and challenges facing workers in the (sub)sector and identifying strategic priorities in relation to PSI's Regional Action Plan 2015-2020;
• establish the mapping of the growth potential and discuss the organisational models for PSI sectors, identifying the members who can do the work at the subregional and regional levels and the implications in terms of resources.

2-Tranversal/Cross-cutting issues (April 21 - 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.)

Stakeholders will discuss and share PSI’s policies for Women, Young workers, Combating Racism and Xenophobia and promoting rights for workers in the LGBTQ community. PSI’s focus is to build strong and inclusive unions, where everyone finds equal opportunity to address their problems in the workplace and to establish favourable trade union policies and practices for workers in these groups. 

PSI has a Regional Committee for each of these four groups and their members are elected by each subregion.

The objectives of these meetings are:

• To identify within the Regional Plan of Action 2015-2020 activities to promote work environments free of discrimination and where there is equal opportunity and fairness;
• To set goals for PSI's affiliates that are inclusive and promote the empowerment of vulnerable groups in the labour market;
• To ensure that PSI adopts a gendered and equitable approach in all its priorities for each of the most discriminated labour groups,  thus strengthening the Regional Committees and the organisation’s global interventions.

3- Seminar: Experiences of the struggle against privatisation and in support of Decent work (April 21 - 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.)

This is an opportunity to learn about the experiences of affiliates in the USA in their fight against the brutal privatisation of public services. This session also provides an ideal opportunity to exchange trade union strategies and actions on this issue which is threatening public services, unions and citizens in the Americas.

4- Thematic seminars (April 22 - 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.)

Among the diverse needs of deepening their knowledge in the region on points that the ISP is already dealing with, but still has not been able to establish to their full potential in the Inter-American region, in the preparatory stages of IAMRECON, the affiliated unions established four priority themes: Climate Change, Tax Justice, FTAs and Pension Funds.  

The objectives of the thematic seminars are to:

• Increase knowledge about the the issue by reinforcing PSI’s global policies;
• Exchanging experiences and share best practices that the members are developing on the topic in the region;
• Suggest regional/subregional and national actions for the next period, to be integrated into the Action Plan 2015-2020.

6-Orientation for new attendees (April 22 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.) 

This meeting facilitates the participation of those who are attending IAMRECON for the first time. The Regional Conference takes place every five years and this meeting helps to clarify how PSI works, its priorities and gives some information about its long history, so people who participate for the first time understand its dynamics and can better follow what's going on at the Regional Conference.

7- Preparatory Meeting for the ILO’s International Labour Conference in Geneva (June 2015) (April 22 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.)

This meeting will  prepare PSI’s actions and participation during the ILO’s International Labour Conference (ILC). The visibility of our actions at the ILC has grown tremendously in recent years with Route of Shame and the contributions of delegates from PSI’s affiliates during the plenary sessions. This meeting provides an ideal opportunity to explore how PSI can further increase its visibility and impact in one of the most important events in the struggle for trade union rights.

Complete document