Water, Migration
Fighting for the rights of migrants and asylum-seekers
Migration has major implications for public services not least because of the significant contribution of migrant workers to the provision of public services in many European countries. Thousands of public service employees across Europe work in areas related to migrations and asylum-seeking. Unfortunately, the European and national response to asylum-seekers has often fallen pitifully short of what should be expected from one of the wealthiest regions in the world and EPSU has been arguing hard for a change of approach, criticising the European Union’s policies which continue to focus on tightening borders, pushing back refugees and outsourcing asylum duties to third countries. EPSU, along with PSI, has also been calling for an end to privatisation and increased public investment in the public services that are vital to ensure the safe and effective integration of migrants and asylum-seekers into society. This briefing, prepared for EPSU's 2019 Congress provides some background on EPSU's activities in this area.
Trade union demonstration calls for action on jobs, pay and union rights
On 17 October, around 20000 trade union members from both private and public sectors marched through Kyiv city centre and blocked the government quarter. The main demands of the demonstration were for investment in industry for decent jobs, raise the minimum wage to help stop emigration, not to increase utilities prices, for the state budget to allocate the equivalent of 7% of GDP to education and 5% to healthcare, to urgently pay outstanding wages to more than 100,000 workers and to stop state’s takeover of trade union property and respect trade union rights.
European Parliament votes to start trialogue on Drinking Water Directive. Time to implement the Human Right to water in European legislation!
Yesterday the European Parliament voted with a very slim majority to endorse the report of MEP Michel Dantin on the Drinking Water Directive (DWD).
Stand up for the Human Right to Water and deliver on the ECI, citizens tell European Parliament
Ahead of next week’s vote in the European Parliament on the Drinking Water Directive (DWD), the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) urges Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to support the call for the provision of universal access to drinking water.
Right2water is voted next week in Plenary
On October 23rd the European Parliament will vote the report of MEP Michel Dantin concerning the Drinking Water Directive, as we have explained before this is the first legal reference to the ECI Right2water and the Human Right to water in European Union legislation.
Report on the Privatisation and Private Sector Involvement and other Forms of State Disengagement in Migration and Refugee Services
(18 September 2018) The European Public Service Union (EPSU) and Public Services International (PSI) commissioned a research to inform both our work in influencing policy on global governance of migration
Racism and xenophobia in the workplace: what is the role of trade unions?
Report on the ETUC/ETUI workshop, held on 10 September - the workshop is meant to be the first in a series to provide a space for debate among trade unionists about their practices in dealing with racism and xenophobia.