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Public Funding/Tax Justice

The gap between the rich and the rest of us is growing rapidly. In many countries, the richest 1% pay less tax than everyone else. Profitable multinational corporations use loopholes and tax havens to avoid paying their share. Around the world, inequality is growing. A taxation system based on fairness and ability to pay is the first step in reversing this attack on the middle class.

PSI Endorses Oxfam report: reward work, not wealth

22 January 2018

A new report released by Oxfam and endorsed by economist Jeffery Sachs and PSI, confirms that global inequality is spiraling out of control

AFSCME: tax bill showers billions in tax cuts on private corporations

22 December 2017

The stealth provision added to the tax bill most especially benefits real-estate investors such as the president, according to Forbes, which estimates that Trump could see tax cut of as much as $11 million for a single year.

Women’s Rights Organizations call on Governments to Reject the WTO Declaration on “Women’s Economic Empowerment”

12 December 2017

According to the signatories of the letter, including PSI, the declaration “fails to address the adverse impact of WTO rules and instead appears to be designed to mask the failures of the WTO and its role in deepening inequality and exploitation”.

Young workers academy in Nairobi

12 December 2017

Young workers from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zanzibar, and Sweden met in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, to discuss issues surrounding Quality Public Services, Tax Justice and Gender Equality.

Sign & share the Bogota Declaration on Tax Justice for Women's Rights!

07 December 2017

The Bogota Declaration on Tax Justice for Women’s Rights is being launched around the world on 7 December 2017 through online platforms and at tax justice events in Argentina and Chile. This launch coincides with the annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, leading into UN Human Rights Day on 10 December. Your organisation is invited to join the Global Alliance for Tax Justice, Public Services International, Tax Justice Network, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and many other leading groups in supporting this declaration.

Paradise Papers: how mega-rich tax dodgers rip off workers and fuel populism

16 November 2017

Check out this Op-Ed from PSI's Director of Policy & Governance, Daniel Bertossa, on how tax dodgers like those exposed in the Paradise Papers are ripping off workers!

Social security workers hold rally on Public Service Day

16 August 2017
Health workers and trade unionists rally in São Paulo

One of the highlights of the World Public Service Day, commemorated on 23 June, was the rally held in the centre of the city of São Paulo and organised by the National Confederation of Social Security Workers affiliated to the trade union centre CUT and by the São Paulo State Union of Public Sector Health Workers.

PPP: Corporations divert UN agenda, claims civil society report

13 July 2017

New York, 13 July 2017: Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), usually portrayed as a useful tool towards sustainable development, actually “involve disproportionate risks and costs for people and the public purse”, claims a global coalition of civil society organizations and trade unions in the Spotlight Report 2017 launched earlier this week.

Corporate power threatens women's human rights

12 July 2017

New York, 12 July 2017:  Corporate power threatens  women´s human rights by promoting a race to the bottom in labour standards and avoiding taxes in the countries where  profits are obtained, concludes the report Spotlight on Sustainable Development 2017, in its analysis of the fifth Sustainable Development Goal which promises to achieve gender equality by 2030 and empower all women and girls.

World Bank plan to mobilize “trillions” will not help the poor

11 July 2017

Global Spotlight Report says that the proposed “cascade” of private financing for infrastructure will result in more corruption, high fees for essential services, and massive resource transfers to the rich from the poor.

Civil society groups reclaim policies for the public

07 July 2017

Launching on the opening day of the High Level Political Forum at the United Nations in New York this new global report assesses how privatization and corporate capture have become obstacles to progress under the 2030 Agenda.

23 June - Want to fund better public services? End corporate tax dodging

29 June 2017
Rosa Pavanelli, PSI General Secretary

For decades we’ve been told that there simply isn’t enough money available to properly fund our public services. It is up to us to challenge this.

#TaxJustice for #PublicServices Global Week of Action wrap

27 June 2017

#TaxJustice for #PublicServices Global Week of Action (19-23 June 2017) events have taken place in some 24 countries including Argentina, Brazil, Guatemala, Peru, Botswana, Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tunisia, Philippines, Vietnam, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Australia and Canada

PSI celebrates World Whistleblowers Day

23 June 2017

Friday 23 June 2017 is World Whistleblowers’ Day. This day draws the world’s attention to the tremendous and fearless work of those who decide to denounce dishonest corporations and public officials, and who get fired, threatened, jailed or even killed in return. It also reminds us of the work ahead to ensure their protection.

LAUNCHED! #TaxJustice for #Public Services Global Week of Action

19 June 2017

From 19-23 June 2017, #TaxJustice for #Public Services Global Week of Action events are rolling out around the world, from South Africa to Tunisia, Brazil to Perú, Vietnam to Bangladesh, and Spain to the Netherlands.

Briefing on tax justice issues - Inter America

27 May 2014
Briefing cover

This briefing paper on tax justice issues in Inter-America was written in preparation for the tax justice and anti-corruption forum that took place in Buenos Aires at the end of April 2013. This paper commissioned by Public Services International and written by Jane Lethbridge from the Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU).

Briefing on tax justice issues - Asia-Pacific

27 May 2014
Briefing cover

This briefing paper on Asia‐Pacific tax justice issues was prepared for the PSI Asia Pacific QPS Forum that took place on 16-18 October 2013. Officers from PSI Head Office led a session to raise awareness amongst PSI affiliates and affiliates of other Global Union Federations (GUFs) and civic society partners on tax justice priorities.

Tax Justice and Anti-Corruption Declaration (Buenos Aires, 26 April 2014)

23 May 2014

The provision of quality public services is a right for all. Ensuring that these services are adequately funded and free from corruption is essential to their provision.

Presention: PSI Tax Justice

23 May 2014

Presented by Teresa Marshall, PSI Communications Coordinator, at the PSI Tax Justice & Anti-Corruption Forum, April 2014, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Presentation: Fiscal justice, public services and workers

23 May 2014

Presentation by Elizabeth Villagomez for the PSI Tax Justice & Anti-Corruption Forum, April 2014, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Why we need public spending (updated)

21 May 2014
Why we need public spending - cover page

In May 2014, a revised version of the PSIRU study "Why we need public spending" was released as a joint publication of PSI and EPSU. This report is authored and updated by David Hall of the Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU). This study provides valuable facts, figures and arguments to defend public spending and public services and public service workers.

Working for the many - public services fight inequality

07 April 2014

The UK-based NGO Oxfam has published a 26-page booklet "Working for the many," that calls on governments to urgently reform tax systems and increase public spending on free public services, such as health and education, to tackle inequality and prevent us being tipped irrevocably into a world that works for the few, not the many.

Africa rising?

03 March 2014
Africa Rising?

Inequalities and the essential role of fair taxation

This new report investigates income inequality in eight sub-Saharan African countries (Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.)

Resolution 12: Educating and Mobilizing Workers and the Public in Support of Fair Tax Systems to Fund High-Quality Public Services

30 January 2014

The World Congress of Public Services International (PSI), meeting in Durban, South Africa, on 27-30 November

Resolution 11: Redress taxation systems to adequately fund public services

29 January 2014

The 29th World Congress of Public Services International (PSI),
meeting in Durban, South Africa, on 27-30 November 2012

Austerity – exposing the confidence myth

21 January 2014

Launching the Annual Growth Survey in November, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso told us: “The return of growth shows that our policies are working. That is why, in this year’s Annual Growth Survey, we keep the same five priorities as we had last year.” And a year earlier he said: "It is crucial to stick to our strategy of growth-friendly fiscal consolidation, economic reforms and targeted investments. This is the only way to restore confidence and create lasting growth.”

Communiqué: Public Services International Steering Committee SC-17

25 November 2013
PSI Steering Committee and staff, November 2013

Angered by the continuing attacks on public services and the workers who provide these services, distressed by the rising inequality across the world and the failure of the current economic system to provide jobs, particularly for young people, the Steering Committee reiterated its commitments to the 2013-2017 Programme of Action “Social Justice through Quality Public Services” and endorsed priority actions for 2014.

Effects of austerity on Greece

31 October 2013

A briefing paper in three parts prepared by PSI's research unit (PSIRU) on the effects of austerity on Greece. These background papers were commissioned by PSI for the PSI/EPSU CAN held in Greece, 4-8 November 2013.

Presentation: International Solidarity Levy

17 October 2013

This presentation was made by Katsuhiko Sato, Asia Pacific Coordinator for an International Solidarity Levy, during the PSI Asia Pacific Quality Public Services Forum in Bangkok, Thailand - October 2013

Presentation: PSI tax justice campaign

17 October 2013

This presentation by Teresa Marshall, PSI communications coordinator, was made at the PSI Asia Pacific Quality Public Services Forum and illustrates Public Services International's global tax justice campaign