For years, Public Services International (PSI) has led efforts to promote the recognition of decent work and the implementation of minimum standards to ensure the well-being of workers. In this context, and accentuated by the impacts of the pandemic, the federation has focused its attention on care work and the people who perform it, most of whom face precarious and undignified working conditions.

This effort has positioned care not only as a labor issue but as a structural axis that involves the State, governments and public services. PSI advocates for a social organization of care (OSC) that transcends commodification, redistributes responsibilities and dismantles gender inequalities. Its proposal seeks a model where access to care does not depend on economic resources or fall disproportionately on families, particularly women, or on the exploitation of precarious, racialized and migrant labor.

Regional strategy and advocacy

Within this framework, PSI has led a strategy that defines care as a fundamental human right, shifting the debate from the "care economy" to a more holistic view of the CSO. Thanks to this position, PSI has consolidated its position as the main trade union organization representing the care sector in the main international, regional and national forums, reaffirming its commitment to the construction of an inclusive and sustainable care model.

One of the pillars of this work has been the FORSA project, which during 2024 enabled key actions in countries such as Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Ecuador. The visit of Susana Barría, PSI's Sub-Regional Secretary for the Andean Countries, to Bolivia from December 9 to 13, was particularly noteworthy. During her stay, Barría spoke about the regional social care strategy, identified workers in the sector and evaluated the situation in Latin America and her visits to La Paz and Santa Cruz.

According to Barría, this strategy is framed by three fundamental elements. First is international recognition of the 5Rs, which are included in the manifesto for reconstructing the social organization of care. Secondly, support from the World Women's Committee to the national women's committees, to influence decisions regarding the social care sector. Finally, participation in regional and governmental processes, through the strengthening and creation of new national care systems in the continent.

During 2024, various actions were carried out in response to and in line with the care strategy in Inter-America.

A trade union mapping was carried out to identify PSI affiliated unions representing the social care sector. A study of the institutional actors related to this field was carried out in parallel. The main objective was to understand the structure of the countries in this sector, assessing whether the presence of transnationals, the private sector or the public sector predominates. This information constitutes a fundamental basis for defining effective strategies for advocacy and strengthening unionization.

The campaign "If care belongs to everyone, it is public" was also carried out. This campaign emphasized the importance of the State and the public sector providing social care services. It was made visible at key moments, for example, at the meeting at the International Labor Organization (ILO) on the status of women, on the International Day of Public Services, at the annual meeting to review the Belém do Pará Convention, and also at other ECLAC events. Barría explained that she contributed four key points to the general discussion on decent work and the care economy at the ILO's International Labor Conference. These were: care as a human right, care as a public good, the decommodification of care, and decent work for care workers, including migrant and informal workers.

Similarly, the content of the right to care in the Request for Observation of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on the government of Argentina was made visible, supported and defined due to the importance of this process and how politically this narrative is being written from the civil society and the trade union world. Along the same lines, at the meeting of the World Women's Committee (WOC), it was agreed that when the response of the process comes out, there will be coordinated actions in the regions to position the result as part of the intention to make PSI's position visible.

Advocacy in national processes was also a central aspect of PSI's 2024 strategy. In Chile, PSI played a key role in the preliminary and parliamentary discussions of the bill creating the National Care System, a model that prioritizes state action and ensures decent work within the system. In Brazil, meetings with the government allowed progress to be made in the construction of a new Care Law, focused on public services and labor rights. In Colombia, PSI organized the first forum on social care, a space that brought together civil society allies to promote the role of the State and highlight the gaps in decent work. In Ecuador, the Women's Committee secured recognition of the right to care as a human right in the new national legislation.

According to Barría, the coming year will focus on consolidating the achievements made, deepening union organizing processes, such as in Bolivia, and expanding advocacy to new sub-regions, with special emphasis on the Caribbean.

"We have made significant progress during this past year and, looking ahead to next year, we will continue to work along the same strategic lines. Our goal is, on the one hand, to build on our achievements and, on the other, to expand our impact in more countries in the region. A key focus will be to strengthen our presence in the Caribbean area, ensuring that we influence the design of laws and proposals, both in public policies and in the collective bargaining of organizations," said the Subregional Secretary of the Andean Countries.

2024 was a year of consolidation for union organizing processes, the strengthening of joint work and the amplification of the voice of workers. All this to ensure that work related to care and social care in general is increasingly understood, valued and integrated into national and regional agendas.