Europe

A new IMF study concludes that Britain’s underlying public finances are among the worst in the world, thanks to the cost of bailing out the banks after the financial crisis and because “the UK has done more to sell off public assets and consequently reduce the possible income from assets that could offset demands on the public purse” says The Guardian.

PSI welcomes the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on global warming released on 8 October 2018. 

On 7 October 2018 we “celebrate” the 10th anniversary of the World Day for Decent Work (WDDW): 10 years that unions across the world have been fighting to place decent work at the centre of government policies, to bring back economic growth that puts people first – people over profit.

The report of the Lancet Global Health Commission on High Quality Health Systems in the SDG era (HQSS) shows quite clearly that the universal health coverage strategy is not sufficient to improve health in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Provision of good-quality health care is essential for the attainment of sustained improvement in health outcomes and the full realisation of the human right to health.

Advances in technology mean that a four-day working week is a realistic goal for most people by the end of this century, the leader of the UK's trade union movement has said. She gets support from the biggest trade union in Norway, Fagforbundet, saying “our backdrop is the same” and there is a great “need for reorganizing our working hours”.