PSI Steering Committee endorses far-reaching programme

Executive Board 147 in May 2015 heard that PSI had established itself as a global leader in fighting privatisation, harmful trade agreements and multinational corporations dodging tax as well as taking a strong position on the attack on the right to strike in the ILO and furthering PSI’s Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) Intervention Strategy.

Steering Committee SC-19 noted extensive work in these areas since EB-147, including:

• Establishing a full-time EVD project co-ordinator based in Ghana and leading a mission to the USA including participants from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ghana to lobby the US Congress, the Surgeon General, the World Bank and USAid.  
• Participating in the UN Ebola conference in New York to ensure the voice of workers in fighting Ebola is reflected in UN policies.
• The General Secretary’s participation in the widely reported launch of declaration of the Independent Commission on Reform of International Corporate Taxation (ICRICT) with Joseph Stiglitz, Jose O’Campo and Eva Joly http://www.icrict.org/.
• Hosting the Global Labour Tax Summit, the first ever meeting of global trade unions and civil society leaders to progress a global joint program to make corporations pay their fair share of tax, including the launch of a joint exposé with the ITF on Chevron’s tax avoidance practices.
• Participating in the International Labour Conference (ILC) and continuing the work in the Committee on the Application of Standards to expose violations in Cameroon, Algeria, Guatemala, Turkey, Korea, Swaziland, Spain, Italy, Venezuela and Mexico.
• Submitting a complaint to the ILO on behalf of 230,000 Federal Canadian Public Servants and supporting UK affiliates in opposing the UK Trade Union Bill.
• Organised country campaigns against trade agreements in more than 10 countries including the successful Uruguay and Paraguay campaigns that resulted in both countries withdrawing from the Trade in Services Agreement negotiations.
• Participation in the analysis and publication of the largest ever leak of trade documents exposing the secret Trade in Services Agreement  
• Lobbying the development of  the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in an attempt to remove references to privatisation as a means of development.
• Attending the Financing for Development Leaders conference in Addis Ababa to promote tax justice in as a viable means to finance development.

Steering Committee SC-19 also endorsed further work to pursue our agenda, including:

• Endorsing a wide-ranging work plan in Local and Regional Government.
• Endorsing further work to support organising in the health sector in pilot countries in the Philippines and Brazil.
• Passing an emergency resolution opposing all forms of terrorism, calling for justice as a foundation to peace and highlighting the vital role of public services in both creating the conditions for peace and justice and in responding to terrorist attacks. 
• Passing an emergency resolution calling on all affiliates to redouble efforts to oppose the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement now that the text has been released and confirms our fears (see attachment)
• Strengthening and democratising the PSI Constitution by endorsing the work of the PSI Constitutional working group and granting a mandate to develop constitutional changes in advance of Congress 2017 to make the global voice of public service workers even more powerful
• Endorsing work to strengthen PSI’s research capability and migration workplan
• Noting the guidelines proposed for the Hans Engelberts Fund which will be sent to the Executive Board for approval.

More information:

• Download a PDF of this communiqué in English – Spanish – French – German – Swedish – Japanese – Русский
• Download a PDF of the Emergency resolution on Terrorism in English –  Français - Español - Deutsch - Svenska - Русский - 日本語
• Download a copy of the Emergency resolution on the Trans Pacific Partnership in English - Spanish - French - German - Swedish - Japanese