Standards and working conditions
29 September 2025
Education voices | Collective union action in defence of collegial governance
Sinéad Kennedy
This testimony was collected as part of the research project entitled “In the eye of the storm: Higher education in an age of crises” conducted by Howard Stevenson, Maria Antonietta Vega Castillo, Melanie Bhend, and Vasiliki-Eleni Selechopoulou for Education International. The research report and executive summary are available here
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Netherlands: Successful fight to close pay gap between primary and secondary teachers
Through a continuous movement of industrial action embracing individual teachers’ demands, the Algemene Onderwijsbond (AOb) has been able to win public support and obtain greater investment in public education and teachers from the new government. This led to a significant reduction of the pay gap between primary and secondary teachers.
Mauritania: Educators’ strike for pay increase and better living conditions
On 22 March, teachers engaged in a three-day general strike to demand a pay increase and better living conditions. This strike was punctuated with massive protests near the Education Ministry headquarters in the capital city, Nouakchott, and in the various provinces.