National Administration workers make our public services a reality. They develop and implement key policies on health, security, jobs, education, public finance, energy and a range of other key sectors. Our governments need their independent, ethical policy advice. Public servants must be free from political interference, with a strong culture of independence and commitment to service.

But decades of austerity designed to starve the public sector of sufficient resources, combined with propaganda about the superior efficiency of the private sector, have eroded some of the core pillars of public administration.

The Big Four accounting firms employ over 900,000 people – nearly twice the number of all tax department employees in every EU country combined.

Increasingly, policy development is outsourced to big consultancy firms which have a financial interest in the outcomes and whose employees revolve between senior public service, government and business.

The hollowing out of public administration invites corruption, policy capture by business, and service capture by contractors. Privatisation and outsourcing result in the loss of core skills and democratic oversight. Falling wages, insufficient training and precarious employment exacerbate these trends.


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Public Administration: a key check on Government

We must demand tenured employment to protect from political interference, vested interest, policy capture and corruption. Staff must be well trained to provide excellent advice and service, with adequate remuneration to attract and retain good staff and avoid the incentives for corruption.

We need a diverse workforce that reflects the values and aspirations of the community it serves. Sufficient resources, strong anti-corruption policies, whistleblower protection and enforced legal protections are needed to ensure that public servants can exercise their right to organise and bargain collectively.

Civil servants in the central government, ministries, secretaries, national assemblies, judiciary and the police, are at the heart of an intricate network that is crucial for the wellbeing of millions of people in every country.

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Corporations have their own global private court system – called ISDS – which they use to bully governments. But many victims of corporate human rights abuses don’t have any way of winning justice. This is unfair. We need to end these corporate courts now Instead, we need a tough global system that can punish multinationals for their crimes. Sign the petition and join the movement: www.stopisds.org

Rights for people, rules for corporations!

Insidious Corporate Influence

The influence of big money and corporations over our political system undermines our national administrations and the workers who run them

50

EU Politicians

have gone into lucrative lobbying or industry jobs

$10

million

spent on lobbying by the Corrections Corporation of America, a private-prison firm

40%

OECD countries

have no protection for public-service whistleblowers

International Civil Servants

International civil servants are vital for global governance; their job is to make human rights a reality for all. They include UN and International Organization staff, peacekeepers, as well as consultants, interns, and volunteers.

Despite their exposure to significant risk, these workers lack basic workplace rights, including collective bargaining.

Many of them serve in some of the most dangerous conditions in the world including theatres of war, peace-keeping operations, natural disasters, epidemic emergencies and relieving people of famine.

Despite their exposure to significant risk, these workers lack basic workplace rights, including collective bargaining. They are often unable to access justice or workplace dispute mechanisms and face increasing uncertainty concerning contractual status, benefits and jurisdictional uncertainty.

This has an adverse impact on the vital work that these dedicated International Civil Servants need to perform. Through our affiliated unions and staff councils within the UN system, we fight for the rights of these workers to unionise, bargain collectively and improve their ability to respond to the world's greatest challenges.

Coordinating Committee of International Staff Unions and Associations of the United Nations System (CCISUA)

The Coordinating Committee for International Staff Unions and Associations of the United Nations System (CCISUA) is an international federation comprised of UN common system staff unions and associations committed to an atmosphere of constructive cooperation in order to provide equitable and effective representation of staff at all levels.

Learn More about CCISUA

We fight for effective public administrations, delivered by workers with quality conditions

We fight for trade union rights

We promote the ratification and implementation of ILO Convention 151 and fight for recognition of trade union rights across all areas of national administration

We protect jobs

We work with affiliates to ensure that digitalisation contributes to quality public services, not a reduction in public services and attacks on workers

We promote the independence of public servants

We defend the important role public servants play in providing frank, fearless and evidence-based advice to counteract corruption.

We support a robust global governance system

We advocate for the labour rights, collective bargaining and access to justice for international civil servants, including consultants and interns.