NUPGE joins Inter-American health workers to strengthen regional union coordination

June 5 2025

Representatives from the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) joined with health sector leaders from the Inter-American region to develop joint strategies and to reinforce the Regional Health Federation’s commitment to building public, universal, and quality health systems for all the peoples of the Americas.

The Health Sector meeting took place in São Paulo, Brazil from May 28 to 30, 2025, bringing together affiliates of Public Services International (PSI) including union representatives from North, Central, and South America as well as the Caribbean. The intensive work agenda focused on ways to tackle challenges like privatization, job insecurity, lack of skilled workers, migration in the sector, violence in the workplace and lack of public investment.

“We know that governments talk to each other and that they use what works in one jurisdiction and apply it in all the others. The problem is that we as workers have not been as coordinated, so with this federation we have an opportunity to build collective strategies across the Americas, based on what was successful in Canada, what worked well in Mexico, what had real impact in the South,” said Jason MacLean of the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), Canada.

The meeting marked an important step forward in an effort that was started two years ago with PSI affiliates. The leaders approved the federation’s rules, in accordance with PSI’s constitution, and selected a coordination group with NUPGE’s Jason MacLean serving as Vice President from Canada and SEIU’s Sharleen Stewart as Coordinator.

Two key workshops enriched the meeting:

Rebeca Cruz, a consultant to the Pan American Health Organization of the World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), presented on the National Health Workforce Accounts (NHWA) – a standardized WHO tool for gathering and analyzing health workforce data in each country. She pointed out NHWA can be used to develop evidence-based strategies and policies as well as at the bargaining table.

Pedro Villardi, PSI Global Coordinator for Health Equity, provided an update on the Global Pact for Health and Care Workers, a WHO initiative aimed at ensuring health and care professionals receive the recognition, respect and support they need to perform their duties safely and effectively. While the Pact is not a legally binding instrument, Villardi noted “it should be used as an advocacy tool to ensure these fundamental rights.”

The two workshops are part of the formal collaboration agreement between WHO and PSI, with the latter being the only global union federation with official relations with the WHO.