Europe
EI led a mission on child labour to follow up on the “Out of work and into school” project, in Istanbul, Turkey, from 20-23 March. In Turkey, the political and war climate has delayed the implementation of teacher training in the three schools of the Gaziosmanpasa district of Istanbul involved in the project. Education union E?itim Sen has completed the translation into Turkish of three EI resource guides on child labour, as well as a survey on the level of dropout rates in the selected schools. EI was represented by Samuel Grumiau.
In April, EI/ETUCE published two new Survey Reports on the “State of Funding in Education, Teachers’ working conditions and Trade union actions, Social dialogue and Collective bargaining” in Central and Eastern European Countries and in Western European Countries. These reports are a comprehensive assessment of the outcomes of eight years of economic crisis on public financing of education systems, teachers’ working conditions, and the role of teacher unions.
On 5 April the joint European social partnership project on social dialogue capacity building brought in Spanish EI/ETUCE member organisations, together with representatives from the Spanish education ministry and several education employers’ organisationsfor a roundtable of education social partners. Participants used the opportunity to assess the present state of their own social dialogue situation, touching upon many current challenges to education nationally, such as the impact of the economic and financial crisis on the quality of education, the economic situation of teachers, and social dialogue development. EI/ETUCE was represented by Alexandra Rüdig Ironside.
The second Consortium meeting of the European Forum for Enhanced Collaboration in Teaching project took place on 18-19 April. The project aims to facilitate an exchange of experience in the staff development of university teachers, drawing upon good practice of European and international institutions and organisations. It will also probe their transferability in other disciplinary, institutional and national contexts. EI was represented by Louise Hoj Larsen.
The EI/ETUCE Secretariat presented the results of itsSurvey on social dialogue and collegial governance in higher education and research to the European Higher Education and Research Standing Committee (HERSC) on 6-7 April, in Bologna, Italy, and to the ETUCE Committee, from 11-12 April in Brussels, Belgium. The results show that 29 out of the 30 responding trade unions are recognised as social partners in their countries in higher education and research. In addition, most of the unions said they are satisfied with their social dialogue processes.
The main topic on the agenda of the ETUCE Committee, held from 10-11 April in Brussels, Belgium,was the preparation of an EI/ETUCE Conference in December 2016 in Belgrade, Serbia. The Conference’s main theme will be: “Empowering education trade unions: the key to promoting quality education”. The Committee agreed to present a resolution on “Reinforcing equality in education”, as well as a policy paper on “The 21st Century teaching profession and the use of information and communication technology”. The Committee also discussed the Integration of Refugees and Radicalisation, the results of an EI/ETUCE Survey on Social Dialogue, and EI/ETUCE’s views on the European Commission’s New Skills Agenda for Europe.
On 13 April, the second webinar of the “Enhancing Quality through Innovative Policy and Practice” project focused its attention on the European Standards and Guidelines 2015 for Quality Assurance in higher education. The EI representative and HERSC Chair, Jens Vraa-Jensen, emphasised that the new standard on teaching staff outlines the need for institutions to provide a supportive working environment for their teachers and staff. He also said that the focus on student-centred learning is incompatible with standardised testing and curricula and must respect and protect academic freedom.
On 21 April, the EI/ETUCE, together with its Latvian education social partners and the European Federation of Education Employers, organised a roundtable meeting in Riga, Latvia. Attendees discussed the need to develop their social dialogue and to strengthen their ties with the European sectoral dialogue in education. The EI/ETUCE used the opportunity to encourage Latvian education social partners to increase their commitment both at national and European level. EI/ETUCE was represented by Alexandra Rüdig Ironside.
The EI/ETUCE actively participated and contributed to the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) Women’s Committee meeting from 21-22 April. The main points of discussion concerned the EU’s “Pillar of Social Rights”. Furthermore, the preliminary results of the Eurofound study on “The cost of the Gender Employment Gap” were critically discussed. ETUCE was represented by Susan Flocken.
During the Civil Society Dialogue with the EU Trade Commissioner, Cecilia Malmström, on the post-Nairobi World Trade Organisation’s agenda on 26 April, EI/ETUCE representative Louise Hoj Larsen questioned the Commissioner on how the European Commission will ensure coherence between its trade and development policies, especially in light of ensuring the implementation of the SDGs.
From 26-28 April, the EI/ETUCE took part in the ETUC’s seminar, “Enabling a trade union influential presence in the European Semester”, held in Madrid, Spain. The event aimed to evaluate the various phases of the European Semester and prepare a trade union strategy to influence the European Semester’s country reports and country specific recommendations. EI/ETUCE was represented by Paola Cammilli.
Portugal's largest teachers' organisation, FENPROF, held its 12th National Congress from 4-5 May in Oporto. Since the beginning of the economic crisis in 2008, education spending in Portugal has fallen to three per cent of GDP, with devastating consequences for the country's school system and teaching profession. Many years of austerity measures have left more than a quarter of Portuguese teachers without job certainty, while salaries are low and employment conditions poor. However, with the change of government last November, there is hope that the situation will improve. Sixty delegates from abroad attended the meeting, including representatives from education unions in the Portuguese-speaking international community, as well as EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen. His remarks can be read here.
