World

On 1st May, Danish public sector unions reached an agreement with public sector employers covering over 700,000 workers in local, regional and central government.

On May Day 2018, Cameroon celebrates not only the gains made by workers and trade unions over the years, but can also celebrate the end of a ten-year experiment with privatisation of water services management. May 1st 2018 is the day that the government of Cameroon regains control of its water utility.

PSI launches video series featuring 16 stories from nine countries – Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, Italy, USA, Chad, Lebanon, Guatemala and Brazil - to praise the work of public servants around the world.

The health workforce is the backbone of the health and social care delivery system. Achieving health for all requires universal access to a well-motivated health and social workforce, globally. The World Health Organization noted that there will be a shortfall of 18 million health and social workers by 2030 if urgent steps are not taken immediately. And that would make it impossible for universal health care to be instituted, as envisaged in Agenda 2030.

7,850 workers die every day from accidents at the workplace or occupational diseases stemming largely from poor working conditions. 2.78 million workers continue to die each year from work-related injuries and illnesses. 2.4 million of these deaths can be attributed to work-related diseases alone.

The Metropolitan District of Quito (DMQ) is home to around 2.6 million people generating some 2,000 tonnes of waste every day. An Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) system has been in place since 2010, and is currently run by public companies. Among other things, it includes informal waste workers as “environmental managers”.

On 27 April, PSI together with fellow global unions [IndustriALL, UNI, IUF] and ITUC delivered a letter to the Brazilian mission to the UN, urging the immediate release of former Brazilian President Lula

Unions from every PSI region successfully negotiated new ILO guidelines to ensure decent work in public emergency services (PES). Workers, employers and governments adopted the new guidelines on 20 April 2018, which will be presented to the November 2018 ILO Governing Body for approval.