Ei-iE

EI and its affiliate, Colegio de Profesores, have welcomed the successful rescue of 33 miners in Copiapó, Chile, and called on authorities to guarantee workers’ rights to health and safety in the workplace.

With the overthrow of President Zelaya in Honduras still a fresh memory, EI has condemned the attempted coup in Ecuador, and expressed its commitment to defending the principle of democratically elected governments in all regions.

EI is concerned to learn from Action and Solidarity for the Empowerment of Teachers (ASSERT) that elements of the Philippine armed forces used aggressive tactics against a peaceful demonstration by teachers on World Teachers’ Day.

EI has launched a global on-line petition calling on the Colombian government to release Miguel Ángel Beltrán, a university professor and trade unionist who has been imprisoned on charges that violate his basic right to academic freedom.

EI and its affiliate the Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union (KTU, Jeon Gyo Jo) have called for the withdrawal of a plan to dismiss 183 teachers who made private donations to a political party.

Education International has expressed dismay as news emerged that another teacher trade unionist has been killed in Colombia. This latest murder brings to 17 the total number of teachers that have been killed in 2010 alone.

A man went on a deadly rampage as he killed at least three children and one teacher in an unprovoked knife attack at a Chinese nursery school in the city of Zibo, in the eastern province of Shandong.

Authorities in Rio de Janeiro have come under renewed pressure to bulletproof up to 200 schools in conflict-stricken areas, after an 11-year-old boy was killed by a stray bullet during a maths lesson.

EI and the Global Union Federations have been advocating for the active participation of workers in response to the AIDS pandemic as they participate in the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna.

Education international and the European Trade Union Committee for Education were represented at the European Social Forum (ESF) and presented the EI/ETUCE work on various topics.

An EI mission visited Georgia on 22-23 June 2010 with the aim of encouraging the Government to refrain from harassing EFSTUG, the EI member organization in Georgia, and to enter into collective bargaining as recommended by the ILO.

Education International has sent a strongly worded statement of solidarity to teacher colleagues from Egitim Sen and KESK in Turkey after the third hearing of their court case took place on 22 June.

Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales, the ousted president of Honduras, has thanked teachers across the world for their support, during his meeting with the EI Regional Committee for Latin America in the Dominican Republic.

Despite the Georgian authorities’ stated commitment to respect trade union rights and the adoption of a legislative framework promoting collective bargaining, evidence is emerging that anti union initiatives continue unabated.

EI has once again raised its concerns about the harassment and intimidation of teacher trade unionists with the Iranian authorities.

Thirty leaders and master trainers converged at the Volta GNAT Conference Centre in Ho, Ghana, on 8 June, 2010, at the launch of a three-day workshop to evaluate the EFAIDS programme in Ghana.

The emergency economic adjustment plan approved to reduce public debt has caused a national outcry. Public sector trade unions have mobilised their members and civil society to call for a general strike in opposition to the moves.

Burundian union STEB is eager to see a visible, national campaign to respond to HIV and AIDS. Specific to the education sector, the union believes that coordinated strategies could see teachers living with HIV “make their professional expertise and personal experience” contribute to overcoming the impact on education quality. Committed...