This move allows the ANDE to define its own legal status instead of it being defined by law. However, the entire process to reform the ANDE’s status and define its legal standing can take up to three or four months.

ANDE has been lobbying for this bill since last year, according to its President, Alexander Ovares. “We have been successful in our effort.”

 De facto trade union

After the publication of the bill, ANDE will start a process to get its new legal status approved by the national Assembly.

Ovares stated that this approval in the second debate “will boost this country’s widest organisation” and added that ANDE “has always been acting as a trade union de facto, but not de jure. Today, we can we have our trade union status acknowledged by the law and become a trade union and turn it into the most important trade union force in the country.”

EI: Trade union status important for teacher welfare

EI welcomes this new bill respecting teachers’ trade union rights, said EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen.

“EI was founded on the fundamental principle that organised teachers and education employees could improve the status and the welfare of teachers and education employees,” he said.

Regretting that millions of educators, contract teachers and support staff have yet to achieve the benefits of union representation and collective bargaining, van Leeuwen underlined that EI has been a strong voice for the fundamental rights and dignity of each and every individual. History demonstrates that independent and inclusive unions and the right to bargain collectively are essential to perpetuating those values in democratic society.

Systemic barriers imposed by governments worldwide restrict the trade union rights of teachers and education workers, van Leeuwen said. Cooperation between member organisations at national and international levels, within and amongst regions, must be encouraged, he added.