All teachers and education support personnel have the right to organise and be part of a union that represents and defends their values and interests. However, around the world, education unions are facing serious attacks and operate in increasingly challenging and hostile environments. Revitalising unions, building their power by boosting membership and active participation and maximising impact is the way forward.
The gate to the school yard is covered with ugly graffiti, but the murals in the courtyard depict lovely flowers, colourful tropical scenes, and a map of the island of Martinique, an overseas department of France in the eastern Caribbean. We are at the secondary school of Le Vauclin, where...
Island-mainland: Long distance solidarity among teachersSri Lanka has for decades been torn apart by the conflict between the Sri Lankan army and the Tamil Tigers. Members of a Tamil education union give personal accounts of life and work in the most dangerous areas of the country. To protect the identity of the teachers who had...
Teaching under bombardmentMae Sot, THAILAND — He has the quiet, professional demeanour of a man who prefers the educational sanctuary of the classroom to the dangers of revolutionary politics. Yet Burmese teacher Htay Hlaing spent nine-years incarcerated in a notorious torture prison in his military-ruled homeland for the so-called “crime” of helping...
Beyond Burma: Lessons in hope for refugee childrenOn 28 March, thousands will march through London as part of a global campaign to challenge the G20, ahead of their 2 April summit on the global financial crisis. Both EI and the International Trade Union Confederation strong urge their member organisations, and in particular those in the G20 countries,...
Put People First: Join the pre-G20 demonstration in London on 28 March!The global trade union movement is pressing the International Labour Organization (ILO) for action in response to a growing tide of oppression against trade unionists in Iran.
Union movement urges intervention over escalating repression in IranA total of three teachers were targets of assassination last February in Colombia. Two of them were killed, and one barely survived. EI voices its strong protest to the authorities, requesting a better protection of teachers facing threats to their lives.
The killing of teachers in Colombia should stop, says EI.EI has been informed that Farzad Kamangar (who was sentenced to death on February 25, 2008 on “absolutely zero evidence” according to his lawyer) has been retransferred from Rajaiee Shahr prison to the section 204 of Tehran’s Evin prison. EI is worried about this last development as the reason of...
Farzad Kamangar: New risks and uncertaintiesThe American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has sent a letter from president Randi Weingarten to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressing the union's concern over the continuing suffering of the Zimbabwean people and urging U.S. leadership to end the reign of terror and devastation wrought by President Mugabe.
AFT Letter to Hillary Clinton Urges Action on ZimbabweEI has written to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asking that a social dialogue begin without delay with the representatives of the Iranian teachers. EI has been in regular communication with the Iranian authorities since 2007, following the crackdown on Iranian teachers who believed implementation of the approved Parity Bill would...
Iran: Government neglect is pushing teachers to take job actionSajad Khaksari has been released from prison in Tehran, but only “on condition.” In other words, he is not really free and clear.
Son of Iranian trade unionist released from prisonSajad Khaksari, the 25-year-old son of one of Iran’s leading teacher trade unionists, was arrested on 28 January in Tehran and remains in custody.
Iran: Son of teacher trade unionist detainedAfter successfully negotiating a collective agreement including substantial salary increases, Kenyan teachers are now in their second week of strike demanding that the raise be effective immediately.
Kenya: Teachers demand immediate salary increases and respect for union rightsEducation International will be among the global and national trade unions with a strong message to deliver at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Labour movement proposes solutions in DavosTrade union rights are human rights. They are protected by international and regional treaties, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms and others.
Trade union rights are human rightsThe 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights is very clear: for 60 years, children throughout the world, regardless of race, class, gender, abilities, or disabilities, should have enjoyed the right to education. However the truth is: 72 million children are out of school and one in five adults (one in...
Everyone has the right to educationWhereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world...
Enduring relevance 60 years onAnti-unionism is a widespread phenomenon in the USA. Senator Bill Hare of Illinois from the Democratic Party spoke to a global union gathering in Washington DC on 13 January on the Employee Free Choice Act. The Act is a legislation proposed to ensure that workers have a free choice and...
Global Union representatives in the US to show support for the Employee Free Choice ActBelow is a moving letter from Farzad Kamangar, a 33-year-old Kurdish teacher unionist sentenced to death by Iranian courts, after a quick and unfair trial. The text of the letter is below, and it was written from the death row in the Evin Prison in Iran.
Letter from Iran: "Let my heart keep beating!"