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In a powerful display of international solidarity, educators and union leaders from around the world gathered to support Iranian teachers facing persecution for defending their fundamental rights. A recent webinar highlighted the resilience and courage of these Iranian teacher union leaders and underscored the importance of global unity in the fight for human rights and quality education.

Standing together across borders

Haldis Holst, Deputy General Secretary of Education International, opened the event with a strong message: “We are gathered here not only to recognize the extraordinary courage of our Iranian colleagues, but to affirm what is possible when educators and unions stand together across borders. This gathering stands as a reminder of how deeply connected we are through our shared purpose and support for one another.”

She added that “through coordinated support, six union leaders, 16 family members were able to seek refuge and begin rebuilding their lives in safety.”

The EI leader also noted that solidarity took many forms. “Protest letters were sent. Urgent action appeals were launched. Visas were sponsored. Embassies were contacted. Homes were opened. Leaders were welcomed and supported upon arrival by union volunteers. Each act, no matter the size, helped to ensure safety, dignity, and hope.”

“This is what solidarity looks like. It is a deep commitment to one another as defenders of education, democracy, and human rights,” Holst concluded.

Voices of resilience

Esmail Abdi, Secretary General of the Iranian Teachers' Trade Association of the province of Tehran, shared his harrowing experiences and stressed the need for global solidarity. “The world raises its voice for freedom and democracy, it is equally in need of peace and justice. Today, more than ever, we are facing growing insecurity, especially in the Middle East, Africa, and South America. We need solidarity to confront forces that systematically threaten the wellbeing of young people—especially girls—through ethnic or state violence, such as the Taliban or the clerical regime in Iran.”

As a representative of the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations (CCITTA), Abdi spent nearly nine years in prison for standing up for quality education for all, as well as decent working and living conditions for educators in Iran.

Abdi shared the ongoing struggles faced by Iranian educators. Stressing that 100% of Iranian teachers live below the poverty line, he said that the education system, “instead of fostering critical thinking and creativity, has become a tool for promoting specific ideologies. Despite international frameworks like UNESCO's 2030 Agenda and the Convention on the Rights of the Child emphasizing the independence of education, documents such as Iran’s Fundamental Reform Document and directives from the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution place Islam as the core of education. Clerics are sent into schools with the goal of raising a generation loyal to the Supreme Leader and Shiite ideals.”

Global solidarity against tyranny is not a choice, but a historical necessity

Masoud Nikkah, a human rights defender and active member of the Iranian Teachers’ Trade Association of Marivan, emphasized the importance of international support.

He reported that, for more than two decades, Iranian teachers have been voicing demands for “educational justice, the elimination of ideological indoctrination, free education for all, fair wages, sustainable social security, and respect for teachers' professional dignity. All these activities have been peaceful, within the framework of the law, and based on universal human rights principles.”

He stressed that the ruling security apparatus in Iran has not tolerated the teachers’ demands and peaceful activities: “They have responded with severe repression: mass arrests, prison sentences, threats to families, use of electronic ankle monitors, exile, trumped-up security charges, dismissals from jobs, and cutting of salaries. Many teachers and other union activists have been forced to leave the country as they fear for their lives.”

He went on saying: “We believe that no government can silence the voice of teachers through arrest, exile, or censorship. Today, in classrooms across Iran—in run-down schools on the outskirts of cities and in the most remote villages—there are still teachers who, with hope, spread awareness and cry out for justice.”

For him, a teacher is the voice of society’s conscience, more than a mere transmitter of knowledge.

“Global solidarity against tyranny is not a choice. It is a historical necessity,” Nikkah also emphasized.

He also called on Iranian authorities to immediately release French education unionists Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, arrested while on a private tourist trip to Iran in May 2022.

A call for action

Maike Finnern, Federal Chairperson of the Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft (GEW) and Vice President of Education International, expressed her deep respect and solidarity with Iranian educators on behalf of her union.

She was also adamant that “international solidarity can make a difference at times of crisis, and it is always a joint and collaborative effort. It contributes to building relations and sharing experiences. I know from the responses we received that our active union members found this engagement very important and rewarding. Colleagues and friends from Iran, we are very humbled by your experience and your courageous commitment to fight for democracy, human and trade union rights, and we will continue to stand by your side.”

The role of unions

Voices from union leaders whose organisations have supported fleeing trade unionists were also heard. All shared a common message: that solidarity is an act of resistance, one that compels us to act, to stand together.

Zulkifl Güneş, General Secretary of Eğitim Sen – EI’s member organisation in Türkiye, highlighted the critical role of union solidarity across border in challenging oppression and exposing injustice. “International solidarity is not just an expression of support; it is an act of resistance” he stated. “What we see in international solidarity and struggle is ‘Hope’. International solidarity and activism are so important because what the global capitalist system we live in says to people that there is no hope anymore for an egalitarian and freedom-focused future.”

Güneş also made a parallel between the situation in Iran and his home country: “The same repression is seen in Türkiye, where unionists who organize for public services, peace, democracy or workers’ rights are criminalized. Strikes are banned. Protests are violently suppressed. Teachers, health workers, and municipal employees have been dismissed or jailed under emergency decrees and anti-terror laws and they are still struggling to get their jobs back.” He emphasized that the clear intention behind these repressions is to silence dissent and weaken the collective power of the working class.

Commitment to human rights

Ahmad Sabr, President of the Kurdistan Teachers' Union (KTU) in Iraq, reaffirmed the union's commitment to supporting Iranian teachers: “We take our responsibility as trade union. Iranian teachers have been fighting for teachers’ voices and raising freedom voices in the country.”

David Robinson, Executive Director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), concluded the event with a heartfelt message: “We heard some incredible and inspiring stories about how people can stay resilient under very difficult circumstances. The education community across the world is clearly with you, and you are not alone. Your struggle is our struggle, and we are with you shoulder to shoulder.”

He also explained how international solidarity is a core component of his union’s mandate: “It's written into our union constitution. It is something that we live and breathe and do all the time.”

Deploring that immigration procedures are sometimes very slow, Robinson called for more effective and more collaborative ways of facilitating bringing trade union activists to safety.”

Through this event, the world’s educators told their Iranian colleagues that they will always have their back. They consider that the fight for Iranian educators’ rights is the fight for all. The Iranian education trade unionists’ courage strengthens them all, and their struggle continues to inspire a movement that will never be silenced.