In a political context marked by the advance of extreme right-wing governments, the criminalization of the trade union movement and the strengthening of austerity and privatization policies in the region and the world, Public Services International (PSI) held its Inter-American Regional Executive Committee (IAMREC) meeting in Panama City on September 29-30. Committee members reaffirmed the need to strengthen trade union unity, international solidarity and collective action to defend public services and labour rights.

The meeting was attended by PSI General Secretary Daniel Bertossa, who stressed that the current offensive against unions and public services requires a strong and coordinated response. "The attacks have changed from being neoliberal to being fascist," he stated. "We are the target of fascist attacks, when we talk about public services and a public services fight back, we are developing a range of actions to increase our strength, defend union leaders, and consolidate north-south solidarity, to confront corporate power," he stressed.

PSI regional secretary for Inter-America, Euan Gibb, emphasized the commitment to strengthen our daily work and regional integration. "We are reorganizing in the face of current threats. Public services and the role of the public sector is at risk. We have to pressure and organize, because governments are not going to solve the problems affecting workers," he said. Gibb recalled that unity and coordinated action are essential: "In Panama, Ecuador, Guatemala, Argentina and the unimaginable case of the United States, where collective bargaining rights for half a million public sector workers have been eliminated overnight; in Quebec, Canada, where our local affiliates recently discovered the provincial government's plans to eliminate collective bargaining rights. This is a widespread situation. Learning from each other's struggles and responding with a collective strategy and being united at this time is urgent."

Freedom of association as a fundamental right: the political situation in Panama

Panama was chosen to host the regional committee meeting because of growing repression, persecution and criminalization exercised by the national government against the labour movement. In May of this year, PSI expressed its concern about the serious situation facing the Panamanian trade union movement under President José Raúl Mulino. In July, affiliate leaders participated in the International Solidarity Campaign with the Panamanian workers led by the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA). Leaders of PSI member unions actively participated in the days of action, a solidarity mission and mobilizations, reaffirming their commitment to the Panamanian working class.

IAMREC members received a visit of the Vice Minister of Labour and Development of Panama, Ana Gabriela Soberón Tejada. This showed the government representative that PSI's affiliates in Panama are supported throughout the region. Regional secretary, Euan Gibb, emphasized to the government representative that the reason for holding the meeting in the country was a regional concern for anti-union actions.

"Today, we are meeting here in Panama because we are quite concerned with the news coming from here. Our local leaders have informed us about the increasing violations of their human and trade union rights that are taking place in the country since this government came to power.So we decided to organize our regional executive meeting here in Panama to take a close look at what is happening," Gibb stressed. "We are committed to closely follow the developments here in Panama," the regional secretary stressed to the vice minister, who demonstrated a defensive position after hearing PSI's position.

Alejandro Hayes, general secretary of the National Federation of Panamanian Public Servants (FENASEP), proposed that the ministry commit to deepening the dialogue with the union movement so that freedom of association is guaranteed "The visit of the vice minister is an act of good will of the government despite an excessive challenge to the union movement after coming to power. The arrival of PSI in Panama strengthens local affiliates and shows the government that we have the support of PSI in case any action is taken against our organizations. And that it is understood that as trade union organizations from all over Inter-America, PSI is marking a line of defense for our organizations," he stressed. A follow-up meeting with the Minister of Labour and Development of Panama, Jackeline Muñoz, was subsequently confirmed.

The struggle against privatization and strategies to strengthen union organizing

During the meeting, IAMREC members analyzed the most recent privatization strategies and mechanisms that threaten public health, education, energy, water and care systems. It was agreed that these processes are not only expanding in Latin America and the Caribbean, but also in North America, driven by investment funds and multinational corporations. "We are in a period of resource cannibalization," warned Gibb, underscoring the need to coordinate actions among the subregions to confront this global phenomenon.

Max Arias, from SEIU, USA denounced the democratic setbacks and the advance of racism, inequality and anti-union policies under Donald Trump's administration, characterized by favouring millionaires and hitting the working class hard. The union leader pointed to cuts in health and education, persecution against migrants and the strengthening of racist groups and repressive forces. He stressed that unions must respond with mobilization, strikes and boycotts, articulating alliances with community and international movements to generate resistance and economic disruption. He stressed the need to defend labour rights, reorganize the union struggle and ensure free elections in the face of rising authoritarianism.

During the session dedicated to "Union organizing: strategies to strengthen our affiliates and PSI," the actions needed to broaden the union base in the region by organizing new workers, creating unions and affiliating existing organizations were discussed.

Under the item on international solidarity, the Regional Executive Committee approved two resolutions on the situation in Haiti and Venezuela and a statement of Solidarity to Palestine. Gibb shared the message of solidarity made on behalf of PSI affiliates to the Solidarity Forum with the Palestinian People held in Mexico City days before the Panama meeting. The forum was organized by a group of Mexican unions and was attended by the first, and recently installed Ambassador of Palestine in Mexico, Nadya Rasheed.

PSI grows and strengthens in the region

The regional report presented at the meeting confirmed significant progress in PSI's membership growth in Inter-America. Membership has increased by over 30% since 2024. This growth reflects the organizational strength of trade unions that represent public service workers in the region and the commitment of affiliates to broadening their base and their active participation in PSI's regional and global structures.

Women trade unionists of the Americas strengthen their political agenda at IAMWOC meeting in Panama

The IAMREC meeting was preceded by the meeting of the Inter-American Regional Women's Committee (IAMWOC), which established key agreements to deepen the feminist trade union agenda around three axes: the recognition of care as a human right, the fight against gender-based violence and harassment at work, and international political advocacy.

The president of IAMWOC and vice-president of the World Women's Committee (WOC), Margarita López, opened the session by stressing that "the feminist struggle is a fundamental pillar of trade union action". The IAMWOC agreed to strengthen the influence of the Manifesto for the Reconstruction of the Social Organization of Care and to project the IACHR's pronouncement beyond Latin America, building "a global trade union front that gives strength to our demands for universal and quality public care services." It also recommended that the IAMREC separate the "Social Care" axis from the Health sector within PSI, in order to promote unionization and specific representation of care workers.

The IAMWOC reaffirmed the urgency of intensifying campaigns for the ratification of ILO Convention 190 to eliminate violence and harassment and proposed regional monitoring of its implementation in the countries that have already adopted it. It also defined global advocacy priorities for the next Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) and the International Labor Conference (ILC), ensuring that the proposals of the Women's Committee are integrated into the regional and global trade union agenda.

The IAMREC approved the proposal to prioritize the social care sector as an important area of potential growth.