It’s time for Public Service Workers to fight back 

Exactly 80 years ago, we defeated fascism and Nazism. From the ashes of destruction emerged vital developments: multilateralism, the UN and human rights system, the rise in independence of former colonies, commitment to democratic institutions, investments in public services and infrastructure, and powerful unions - all designed to share the prosperity and power so we can ensure the peace.  

These hard-won achievements, earned through struggle and sacrifice, are what the billionaire class now undermines when they drive up inequality in the pursuit of monopoly profit – and power. 

Their sustained assault on public services and trade unions is no coincidence. They target us because we remain the strongest line of defence against their complete takeover of state institutions. Public service workers and their unions stand as the last organized force capable of resisting the transformation of democratic states into authoritarian regimes serving private interests. 

We no longer have the luxury of choosing whether to fight back. The open combining of the globalised billionaire class with right-wing political forces has made that decision for us

We no longer have the luxury of choosing whether to fight back. The open combining of the globalised billionaire class with right-wing political forces has made that decision for us. They have moved from subtle undermining of public institutions to open warfare against them. Their strategy is clear: weaken public services, crush unions, and eliminate any resistance to their control of state power. 

The importance of this moment is that whilst in previous decades neoliberals sought to whittle down and eliminate the state – the new generation of extreme right-wing actors seek to reinvent the state for their own purposes.  The normalising of the idea that government is waste to be eliminated has shifted from a deliberate strategy to weaken independent oversight to a ruse to create chaos into which strongmen can remake the state. 

Right-wing extremists remake the state to implement a nasty social agenda – attacking migrants, women's rights and the LGBTQ community. Whilst the business oligarchs want a state that gives generous contracts to ensure their profits whilst never regulating their monopolies or taxing their profits. Both are showing an alarming willingness to escalate the use of state apparatus to crush dissent across parts of the world previously largely immune from such forces.   

We must understand this fundamental shift and take it seriously if we are to defeat it - from extreme neoliberalism to pre-fascism. 

The attacks on the United Nations system, seen in this light, represent not just Trump's domestic politicking but a critical front in dismantling control of international social norms and economic regulation. They need to be seen in the context of broader attacks such as Netanyahu's on the International Criminal Court, the failure of Macron and other Western leaders to enforce the ICC's jurisdiction and the deliberate undermining of UN institutions such as the ILO, UNRWA and the WHO.

We are already seeing massive staff reductions. The ILO has eliminated nearly one in ten positions. UNICEF faces a 20% budget reduction, while the WFP and UNHCR are preparing to reduce their workforce by up to 30% worldwide. That's why we'll join our affiliates ILO Staff Union and UNOG Staff Union in a protest in front of the UN office in Geneva under the slogan "UN staff are not a commodity - we stand for humanity". 

But public services and their workers are more than just the last line of defence. We are also the first line of attack. 

Public services represent the hope for a better world – one of the last bastions of society where people receive care based on need regardless of their ability to pay – despite the market.  

When we deliver healthcare, education, and essential services to all citizens regardless of their wealth or status, we demonstrate that another world is possible – one based on solidarity and equality rather than profit, extraction and exploitation. This is why they are determined to destroy us. 

Public services and their workers are more than just the last line of defence. We are also the first line of attack

They are desperate to create a narrative to support a system that works only for them. A system that provides tax cuts for them, wage cuts for workers; subsidies for big business, austerity and precarity for everyone else – and feels like the only option available. 

Every day we exist, every day we show that another way is possible, is another day their lies and their hate are exposed.   

The stakes could not be higher. If we fail to defend and strengthen democratic institutions now, we risk seeing them transformed into tools of authoritarian control. Waiting to see if the threat is real risks waiting until it is too late to do anything to stop it.  

Our unions represent millions of workers who touch the lives of billions of people. We have the power to organize, mobilize, and fight back. When we strike, when we protest, when we organize, we demonstrate that collective action can challenge even the most powerful interests. When we combine with those who use our services we win. 

Our vision extends beyond merely resisting authoritarianism. We fight for a world that puts people and planet over profit. We demand universal quality public services, fair taxation of wealth, breaking up of corporate monopolies, and strong democratic institutions capable of governing in the public interest. 

Time is not on our side, but power still lies in our hands. The sooner we mobilize, the stronger our position becomes.  

But it is possible they have also overplayed their hand – in their confidence the brutality of the attacks and the chaos they produce have exposed them. People must now pick a side – and accept the consequences of their choice. The time for hiding, hedging and concessions, if it ever was a plausible strategy, is over. 

This May Day, we call on public service workers and their unions worldwide to join the public service fightback. Together, we can defeat the billionaire oligarchs, defend democracy, and build the just and sustainable world we know is possible. 

The hour is late. The threat is real. But so is our power. Let the fightback begin.