“Public services are an essential structural investment in times of crisis”

LGlobalization and the unlimited exploitation of exhaustible resources, the unfair distribution of wealth and its impact on the climate are creating major crises: health, social, environmental, economic and geopolitical. Awareness is all the more brutal the later it comes. The inaction of recent decades has greatly reduced the room for maneuver for a socially sustainable ecological transition.

Therefore, it is necessary to act with the means of establishing action for a more united, more ecological, more civic-minded society. Among the range of structural and structural changes that must be made to face these many challenges, France can benefit from its public services and level of social protection. UNSA calls for significant reinvestment in public services and public service, the common good, the model and future train of our country and our children.

Public services carry out activities of common interest and their existence and functioning derive from socialized contributions. They contribute to reducing the gap between citizens. The rules specific to them are a pillar against conflicts of interest and strengthen social cohesion. This specificity should be continued and strengthened, because the greater the uncertainty, the greater the citizens’ trust in public services as a point of support to overcome the crisis.

Energy awareness is the first step

In the face of danger, the principles of continuity, equity and changeability of public services are a real asset. A health crisis is a perfect illustration of this, as is firefighting. This context implies a reactivation of the foundations of public services: meeting the needs of citizens, revising their outlines and goals.

Water management, energy, transport, information, training, education, security, justice, personal assistance, health, culture, sports, early childhood, attitudes… all these require significant investment. Public services and infrastructure also support the development and protection of private sector activities.

Public employers must lead by example in dealing with climate change. A concrete implementation of energy vigilance requires saving and supporting agents, but above all significant investments now and in the long term. A large-scale plan to isolate and transform public buildings is urgently needed, replacing day-to-day management with a medium- to long-term structural vision.