This thought was put forward by Daria Cibrario, the global head of the local and regional government sector of Public Services International (PSI). "At this time of crisis, we have to take the opportunity to build the local public services of the future. Use everything we have experienced, are experiencing and will experience to then rebuild a strong local public service".

According to Cibrario, the challenges that municipalities and local government professionals are currently facing are related to the exacerbation of pre-existing deficiencies in terms of working conditions, sufficient numbers of workers and personal protective equipment.

She highlighted that, in addition to health workers, who are highly exposed to contamination and have suffered from exhaustive work during the Covid-19 pandemic, it is necessary to take into account the actions of professionals from other essential sectors at local and regional governments that continue to provide services to the population and, consequently, risk contamination. This includes workers in garbage and waste collection, cleaning, funeral services, municipal police, home care, etc. The challenges faced by all of these workers were detailed by Cibrario in an article published on March 26.

In order to face these challenges and build the local public services of the future, Cibrario noted that it is essential to exchange experiences of good practices adopted by various sectors in different countries and localities. These good practices include specific health and safety measures and successful negotiations with governments in the midst of the pandemic.

‘Before’ and ‘After’

For Oscar Rodríguez, PSI´s sub-regional secretary for Mexico, Central America and the Dominican Republic, "from Covid-19 many of us have concluded that we will have to create a ‘before’ and ‘after’ in space and time and, in this sense, contribute to our own analysis. The outbreak of Covid-19 reveals what we have been saying for many years: the current economic model which is exclusionary and only serves the interests of a transnational capitalist class, has been exhausted".

Rodriguez also highlighted the actions taken by PSI at the global level in response to the pandemic, such as sending a letter to the World Health Organization (WHO), signed by Rosa Pavanelli, the general secretary of this trade union federation, calling on this UN agency to address the severe shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) for working people who spend long hours in direct contact with infected patients, a situation which, along with shortages of ventilators and medical supplies - including disinfectants - presents major obstacles to an urgent and effective response to the virus.

Another initiative highlighted by Rodríguez is the campaign "Safe Workers Save Lives", which aims to share challenges, experiences and strategies from the front line response to the coronavirus and, in this way, to pressure governments to adopt more rigorous measures to protect essential services professionals. "We therefore emphasize that health and other essential workers be provided with protective equipment and risk training to keep them healthy while saving lives.”

The PSI sub-regional secretary for Central America also called attention to other urgent measures that must be taken by governments and international organizations including fair and inclusive policies to protect families from income and job losses and the creation of lines of financing by institutions such as the IMF, World Bank and International Development Bank, without the usual neoliberal demands for structural adjustment. Other points highlighted by Rodríguez were the adoption of national legislation to incorporate the standards of the International Labour Organization (ILO) regarding teleworking and the reversal of regressive tax reforms, with an increase in taxes on the profits of national and transnational companies.

"The main lesson learned is that despite so many technological transformations over time, the human species, although predominant in this world, remains vulnerable and unable to predict our future. Nevertheless, I am confident that our ingenuity and innovative capacity will enable us to overcome this tough test and begin to build another world for new generations," he concluded.

Summary of the meeting

PSI regional secretary for the Inter-Americas, Jocelio Drummond offered a summary as a conclusion to the meeting, noting:

• In many Latin American countries, municipal and regional governments have been at the forefront of the response to the coronavirus pandemic, such as the decree of quarantines, despite the hesitation and lack of action by national governments. There has been a real lack of coordination between different levels of government.

• While facing the pandemic, local public services of the future must be built. As Cibrario highlighted in her introduction, there must be fluid communication between trade union organizations to share good practices and information on agreements and demands of respective governments.

• Vilani Oliveira, president of the Federation of Public Municipal wokers for the state of Ceará (FETAMCE) and of the Confederation of Public Municipal workers of the Americas (CONTRAM/PSI), suggested that municipal unions should make their physical structures available to municipalities in the fight against the pandemic. In Argentina, trade unions have already done so.

• It is necessary to publish an article on labour rights at the local level according to the conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO), which must be above national and local legislation for those countries that have ratified them.