PSI and UCLG launch Global Social Dialogue Committee in the LRG Sector

PSI General Secretary Daniel Bertossa, who signed the agreement alongside UCLG General Secretary Emilia Saíz at the UCLG Congress in Tangier, Morocco said “PSI and UCLG are the most representative global organisations for local and regional government workers and leaders. By signing this Global Framework Agreement on Social Dialogue and Cooperation, we are creating something that has been missing from the international multilateral system: a structured global space where representatives of local government employers and workers can engage in social dialogue and joint action. This is of utmost importance because there can be no quality local public services without decent work for the workers who provide them” he added. 

The UCLG is the most representative global LRG membership-based organisation, bringing together over 250,000 cities, regions and metropoles as well as more than 175 local and regional government (LRG) associations worldwide. It is also the convener of the Global Taskforce for Local and Regional Governments which unites and coordinates the work of the largest regional and thematic city networks of the world, including ICLEI, C40, Mercociudades, Commonwealth Local Government Forum and many more. 

Local and Regional Governments (LRGs) employ directly or indirectly around  half of PSI’s 30-million membership in 154 countries and territories, including workers in  public administration services; health, care, and social services; public emergency services and firefighting; water and sanitation; kindergarten and primary education; public transport; waste collection and disposal, decontamination and renaturing services; energy generation and distribution; public and social housing; refugee and migrant reception services; funeral services; public and green space maintenance services; libraries, culture, local police, municipal parking and fresh market inspectors; prison and parole services; among many more. A majority of the LRG worldwide workforce consist of women. 

Why the Agreement breaks new ground  

This Agreement is a first in the LRG sector and breaks new ground for several reasons.  

• For the first time UCLG engages as a social partner of PSI, recognising it represents members which are employers of LRG workers. It also recognises the fundamental role of LRG workers and their trade unions in delivering local quality public services in a diversity of sectors through a variety of employment arrangements.  

• It opens a regular space for social dialogue between worker and employer representatives for the PSI Global LRG sector affiliates in the global industrial relation system. It also begins to cover a significant gap in the global governance system of the United Nations (UN) that exists because both the UN and the ILO donot recognise LRGs as either an employer or government – but rather as non-government organisations (NGOs).   

• The Agreement also secures mechanisms to build regular and structured social dialogue among the leadership and representatives of the PSI and UCLG constituencies. This includes a yearly meeting of an LRG Global Social Dialogue Committee (GSDC) that opens a space for the LRG Sector to discuss labour issues related to the LRG world of work. PSI and UCLG will also work on building cooperation to influence global policies, strengthen capacity for members to uphold decent work in the LRG world of work, and engage in joint advocacy and activities with UCLG in areas of common interest relevant to the universal provision of local quality public services.  

Agreements exist at a regional level with EU-level social dialogue between EPSU and CEMR; an agreement between the PSI Africa and Arab Countries Region and UCLG Africa (2022); and a Letter of Intent between PSI Inter-America and FLACMA (2025). This global Agreement does not substitute but rather complements, these regional social dialogue mechanisms, which remain independent and autonomous levels of social dialogue. 

Additional important provisions in the agreement 

In the text, social partners in the LRG sector both acknowledge that LRG workers have labour rights as per the ILO International Labour Standards, its jurisprudence and definition of decent work, and recognise that LRGs must respect, promote and realise those standards.   

It identifies shared objectives and areas of global policy where PSI’s and UCLG’s advocacy can be stronger together (e.g. local government funding, tax justice, gender equality and non-discrimination, climate change etc.), including in multilateral and regional fora, where UCLG has strong access.  

It creates ongoing dialogue in all areas of the Agreement through the setup of a Steering Committee composed of maximum six (6) representatives per Party and a Global Social Dialogue Committee in the LRG sector composed of maximum twenty (20) representatives per Party, that will work on the basis of an annual workplan, will assess achievements, and draw lessons on a continuous improvement basis.  

It also provides for mechanisms to develop the Agreement further in areas of mutual interests, address disagreement, or exit it flexibly should the outcomes be unsatisfactory for either Party.  

The signature ceremony followed a public debate between LRG employer and worker representatives on 23 June, just before the signature of the Agreement, the PSI delegation could address Mayors and LRG leaders in a public session before the UCLG Executive Bureau, the global executive body of the UCLG.

The achievement of a ten-year partnership of dialogue and cooperation 

The negotiation of this Agreement is the culmination of over 10 years of cooperation between PSI and UCLG, that developed into many joint actions, partnerships, and shared advocacy, from the first address of PSI to the World Assembly of Local and Regional Governments in 2018, to the  2020  PSI-UCLG joint statement PSI-UCLG in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic “Strong local public services for a safe world” and first ever joint event that brought together global LRG leaders and workers’ representatives at the times of pandemic; to the joint advocacy at the UN High Level Policy forum 2025 with the joint UCLG-PSI review of the localisation of SDG8 Decent Work crystallised in the joint review of local social dialogue good practices between LRG employers and workers in the joint paper “Advancing Decent Work and Economic Development  for All”.  

During the 2024 UCLG Retreat PSI LRG representatives approached UCLG to propose the opening of negotiations towards a structured social dialogue agreement in accordance with PSI Program of Action. Since then Parties setup Technical Negotiation Groups on both sides.  

PSI was represented by: Rebeca Céspedes, National Secretary for Gender and Equality, ANEP, Costa Rica; Municipality of Goicoechea; CONTRAM-ISP Executive (Inter-America/Central America);  Annie Geron, President, PSLINK, the Philippines, PSI Asia Pacific Vice President (Asia-Pacific);  Steve Joseph, President, Dominica Public Service Union (DPSU), PSI Executive Board Titular, Dominica (Inter-America/Caribbean); Nadia Koubia, Moroccan Workers’ Union (UMT), Deputy Secretary General of the National Federation of Local Government Employees and of Delegated Services Management, Municipality of Al Hoceima, Morocco (Africa and Arab Countries); Philippe Malaisé, National Secretary, CFDT Interco, France; Member of the EPSU Executive Committee (Europe).   

The UCLG Technical Negotiation Group comprised: Hamza Bennis, Officer, Employment, Digitalisation and Public Services, CEMR (Europe). Katharina Freter, Director Europe and International, Nantes Métropole (France); Lautaro Lorenzo, International Affairs, Esteban Echeverría (Argentina); Nozibele Makanda, Portfolio Head for Health, Community Services and Inclusivity, SALGA (South Africa). Ravi Ranjan, Deputy Director General, All India Institute of Local Self Government (India).  

The signature took place at the UCLG Global Congress in Tangier (Morocco) from 22-26 June 2026. The conference theme - “New Generation of Universal Local Public Services” - resonates with the PSI-UCLG agreement, highlighting the centrality of local public service workers in the UCLG’s vision for the next term. The congress saw Emilia SaÍz, current UCLG General Secretary and champion of the PSI-UCLG Agreement, confirmed for a third mandate along with the adoption of the new UCLG political action plan: the Local Social Covenant 

The Agreement is signed following three rounds of negotiations between groups and internal consultations of the PSI and UCLG memberships.