Media Advisory
PSI Global Trade Summit
September 15-17, 2014
Washington, D.C. USA
Public Services International (PSI), affiliate leaders and partners will convene in Washington, D.C., in September 2014 to discuss the new threats posed to workers, public services, democracy and our communities by trade and investment agreements.
Undeterred by sharp increases in inequality across the globe, nor the devastation created by reckless deregulation of the financial markets, multinational corporations have been urging our governments that further radical and permanent liberalization is now required through a web of binding trade and investment agreements. No longer about traditional trade issues, the new wave of agreements deepens corporate power by limiting the role of democratic governments to regulate in the public interest and opens up government services to private profit. These agreements include the Canada-EU Agreement (CETA), the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), and the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA).
This meeting of public sector trade union leaders from every continent will be an important global event. Rosa Pavanelli, General Secretary of PSI, along with David Prentis, President of PSI and General Secretary of UNISON (UK), will convene the meeting. IBT President James P. Hoffa will welcome participants and public sector union leaders from across the globe.
The PSI Trade Summit will feature a Press Conference and Reception at 6pm on September 15, 2014 at the National Press Club in downtown Washington, D.C.
On September 16th participants will gather at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters' headquarters in Washington, D.C. for a full range of expert presentations and strategic discussions about the critical importance public services play in advancing economic development and shared prosperity, the historical evolution of international trade policy and agreements as they relate to public services and economic development, and the role of multinational corporations in pushing ahead an international trade policy agenda that seeks to restrict the democratic rights of citizens and privatize public services at the expense of taxpayers and government accountability and transparency.
On September 17th participants will meet with Congressional representatives and staff to discuss the current set of multilateral trade negotiations and hold an open hearing on Public Services and International Trade at 1:30pm. The hearing will feature testimony by PSI affiliate leaders from North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. PSI leaders will be available for interviews throughout the day on Sept. 17th.
For more information contact:
Supplementary Reading:
Please review the recently released
"PSI Special Report: TISA versus Public Services."
Please review the recently released,
"Public Health Care vs.The Trans-PacificPartnership Agreement."
The TPP represents a systematic threat to quality public services and is poised to accelerate the privatization of public health care and insurance by degrading public health care delivery systems through foreign investor privilege clauses and a direct challenge to state ownership of public health care assets and national development in general.
This strategic briefing identifies and examines the primary threats associated with the TPP as they relate to public health care and the essential workers who deliver this vital public service. The first section treats the core negotiating issue of trade in services with a focused discussion of its consequences for public health, such as contracting out health care services and government procurement of medical devices and pharmaceuticals. The second section examines the key issue of the “negative list” through which participating national governments identify a list of services to be exempt from the Trade in Services provisions of the TPP. The third section treats the cross cutting issues of competition rules and state owned enterprises (SOEs) as they may impact public health care institutions. All of these concerns are exacerbated by the expected inclusion of investor-state dispute settlement provisions that allow foreign investors to directly attack important government policies aimed at protecting public health. Lastly, the briefing outlines several recommendations for PSI affiliates to consider. In addition, Appendix 1: TPP Member Country Ratification of Core Labor Conventions offers a review of TPP country ratification of core labor conventions.
This strategic briefing identifies and examines the primary threats associated with the TPP as they relate to public health care and the essential workers who deliver this vital public service. The first section treats the core negotiating issue of trade in services with a focused discussion of its consequences for public health, such as contracting out health care services and government procurement of medical devices and pharmaceuticals. The second section examines the key issue of the “negative list” through which participating national governments identify a list of services to be exempt from the Trade in Services provisions of the TPP. The third section treats the cross cutting issues of competition rules and state owned enterprises (SOEs) as they may impact public health care institutions. All of these concerns are exacerbated by the expected inclusion of investor-state dispute settlement provisions that allow foreign investors to directly attack important government policies aimed at protecting public health. Lastly, the briefing outlines several recommendations for PSI affiliates to consider. In addition, Appendix 1: TPP Member Country Ratification of Core Labor Conventions offers a review of TPP country ratification of core labor conventions.
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