Ei-iE

Hans Engelberts, General Secretary of the Public Services International from 1981 until 2007, died after a long illness on 12 April.

In a letter conveying its condolences to the Public Services International (PSI), Education International notes that “Engelberts was a man of conviction and a trade union activist pur-sang who believed that defending the public good and the public domain was not just a matter of serving the interests of public service unions and their members, but was to be understood as part of the struggle for democracy, for equity and for social justice.”

EI General Secretary, Fred van Leeuwen, who worked closely with Hans Engelberts for many years, recalls the many international campaigns initiated by  Engelberts to achieve the right to organise and bargain collectively for all public sector workers. “Whether it was the government of the UK, Japan, South Korea, or of other countries where basic trade union freedoms of public employees were restricted, he took the lead in confronting them, directly or through the International Labour Organisation. Hans was allergic to social injustice, wherever it occurred, and he spoke out, whether it was to defend the rights of hundreds of thousands of his members or of a single person,” says van Leeuwen.

Engelberts was  instrumental in bringing together international trade union forces, be it as chair of the conference of general secretaries of the international trade secretariats (the forerunner of the Council of Global Unions) or as initiator of joint action by the public sector internationals.

The most challenging global development during his leadership of PSI was undoubtedly, according to van Leeuwen, “the spread of neo liberalism and the wave of privatisation and commercialisation that came with it - hitting hard on public enterprises and services everywhere, from public utility providers to transportation and postal services.”

Van Leeuwen: “He was among the first international union leaders who warned for the evil effects of globalisation, and mobilised his membership against it. That PSI and most of its member unions have been able to withstand the vicious and ideologically motivated attacks on the public sector, and have gained, rather than lost, strength, is also to be attributed to the kind of passionate, consistent and determined leadership provided by Hans Engelberts for more than 26 years.”