"Our union is heartbroken. An AFGE member is dead. A family’s life has been forever changed."

These are the words of Everett Kelley, National President of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), following the killing of Alex Jeffrey Pretti - an AFGE Local 3669 member and dedicated ICU nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center - by federal agents amid protests in Minneapolis over the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement actions.

In a letter to Kelley, PSI General Secretary Daniel Bertossa offered condolences to Pretti’s loved ones, colleagues, and the broader AFGE family on behalf of the global public services union movement.

"Public service workers in the United States have faced layoffs, demonization, austerity, and harassment, yet time and again they continue to answer the call to serve the public with professionalism, courage, and dignity. Their resilience in the face of political attacks is an inspiration to workers around the world.

PSI stands shoulder to shoulder with AFGE and all public service workers in the United States. In many parts of the world, public sector workers face rising authoritarianism and government action designed to provoke and scapegoat rather than offer real solutions to working people’s issues. We reaffirm our shared commitment to democracy, equality, human rights, and strong public services that serve the many, not the few."