Campanha europeia pelos serviços públicos

SINDICATOS APRESENTAM MANIFESTO EM CONFERÊNCIA DE IMPRENSA

 read the Manifesto in English below
 read the Manifesto in Portuguese below

Os sindicatos portugueses filiados na Federação de Sindicatos Europeus de Serviços Públicos (FSESP/EPSU) apresentam na próxima segunda feira, 18 de Setembro, um Manifesto em defesa dos serviços públicos, numa Conferência de Imprensa a realizar no Hotel Altis, Lisboa, às 10.30 horas.

O Manifesto, integrado numa Campanha Europeia pelos serviços públicos promovida pela FSESP/EPSU, é subscrito pelos sindicatos portugueses que integram aquela estrutura, designadamente o SINDEL, Sindicato Nacional da Indústria e da Energia, o SINTAP, Sindicato dos Trabalhadores da Administração Pública, o STAL, Sindicato Nacional dos Trabalhadores da Administração Local, e o STE, Sindicato dos Quadros Técnicos do Estado.

Com este documento pretendem as organizações subscritoras alertar a opinião pública nacional para os objectivos da referida campanha, nomeadamente para a defesa dos serviços públicos como factor de qualidade de vida das populações, garante de democracia, desenvolvimento, modernidade e justiça social.

A Campanha Europeia promovida pela FSESP/EPSU, denominada «Serviços Públicos, Qualidade de Vida» visa exigir um quadro jurídico que defenda e promova a sua prestação no espaço da União Europeia em condições que garantam equidade, justiça social e universalidade.

A Conferência de Imprensa contará com a participação de Francisco Braz, presidente do STAL, Bettencourt Picanço, presidente do STE, Nobre dos Santos, presidente do SINTAP e Victor Duarte, presidente do SINDEL.

Lisboa, 13 de Setembro de 2006

Europe and the democracy concept usually associated to this space became stronger and grew throughout the years, mainly after the Second World War, as a result of the struggle of the people and workers, under a strong principle of social justice and solidarity. According to this principle, the supply of public services is a competence and duty of the State, who is thus responsible for ensuring access to certain fundamental goods and services by all its citizens, regardless of their economic, social and geographic status.

Education, health, water supply, social security, transport, postal services, telecommunications, electricity and safety are some of the public services supplied for decades, by the different Member States of the present EU, and they represent an advance in terms of civilization, a conquest of the citizens and a milestone in the history of democracies, namely the Portuguese, mainly after the Revolution of April 1974.

Building a truly European space is a challenge, mainly in what regards the construction of a democratic and solidary society. To achieve this goal, a strong commitment towards the improvement of the populations’ quality of life is required, by increasing the quality of the public services provided, ensuring social rights and fighting exclusion.

 It is not possible to achieve excellence, equity and universality in the supply of essential public services by following market rules, where profit is sovereign and stands above all other issues. The known experiences, both throughout Europe and in the world at large, are good evidence of this point.

 It is not possible to involve and motivate the populations to build a European space when the goals, practices and regulations within that same space determine that citizens play only a role as ‘customers’ in the access to services they naturally ‘use’!

 It is not possible to promote true economic and social development whilst creating conditions that lead to unequal access to essential public services and promoting its commerce!

The approval of the Internal Market Services directive, aka Bolkestein directive, remains a clear goal of the EC and aims at turning most public services into a large market segment within the EU, by imposing the profit to the social, equity and justice logic, thus violating the subsidiarity principle and imposing market criteria in a large scale.

In Portugal, the neoliberal logic also holds a strong influence in the government’s policies, who insists upon a strategy consisting in privatising essential public services and dismantling the State services, whilst viciously attacking its workers’ rights.

Blindly closing down schools, health care services, maternity wards, tourism offices and other services is a clear example of the economicism followed by the present executive; the so-called Public Administration “reform”, namely the PRACE (programme for the restructuring of the State’s central administration), the Mobility Law and the services reorganization Law, reflects a strategy in which the State is dismissing itself from its responsibilities and opening to a growing intervention from the private sector in the supply of services that, by constitutional law, are the responsibility of the State.

By deciding to promote a European campaign in defence of public services, in favour of a legal framework that defends and promotes their supply within the EU space under equity, social justice and universality conditions, EPSU/FSESP is actually promoting, in a pertinent and timely manner, a particularly relevant debate with a double interest for us all: what is interfering with the construction of an European Social Space, and what is the reality of each Member State, in this specific case the Portuguese reality.

The ESPU/FSESP member organisations, namely STAL (Portuguese Local Administration Workers Union), STE (Technical Managers’s Union), SINTAP (Public Administration Workers Union) and SINDEL (Portuguese Industry and Energy Workers Union), express their total availability to coordinate actions, at national and European level, in defence of public services, namely:

1) By condemning the present draft Internal Market Services directive

2) By demanding that the European Union adopts a directive which promotes a legal framework for public services;

3) By demanding, at national level:

a) A policy withdrawing from the goal of marketing essential public services such as education, water supply, health care, social security, transport and electricity, whilst ensuring these are provided according to quality, equity and social justice criteria.

b) Withdrawing from the present strategy of disassembling Public Administration and adopting instead measures leading to an effective modernisation and reorganisation of public services, ensuring the populations of their social rights and respecting the workers’ rights.

It is our strong belief that only quality public services will deepen democracy and improve the populations’ quality of life, by promoting social inclusion and development and modernising society. The undersigned organisations ask the society at large and its representative organisations to take action in favour of these goals.

Lisbon, 21st July 2006

Signatory organisations:

STAL - Sindicato Nacional dos Trabalhadores da Administração Local STE - Sindicato dos Quadros Técnicos do Estado SINTAP - Sindicato dos Trabalhadores da Administração Pública SINDEL - Sindicato Nacional da Indústria e da Energia

Manifesto - PT