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.
EI has been informed that on December 18, Farzad Kamangar complained of severe pain and low blood pressure due to a chin inflammation, and he was again denied access to medical treatment.
Farzad Kamangar still at risk in the Evin PrisonEducation International, the global voice of teachers and the world’s largest international union federation, is strengthening its support of national unions and workers’ rights by publishing its Trade Union Rights Manual, a guide for union activists around the world. The launch of the Manual is to coincide with the 60th...
International Human Rights Day: Education International launches new Trade Union Rights ManualLatest reports from Zimbabwe show that more teachers than originally known were arrested in this week's crackdown by the Mugabe government in response to demonstrations protesting the financial and humanitarian crisis. In fact, of the 14 arrested, four remain in prison.
Zimbabwe: Ten teachers released, but four still incarceratedFive leaders of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, including PTUZ General Secretary Raymond Majongwe, are among 48 trade unionists who were caught up in a wave of arrests across the country on 3 December.
Zimbabwe: Five teachers among sweep of arrests of union leadersTeachers, trade unionists and human rights defenders around the world are mobilising in defence of Farzad Kamangar, an Iranian Kurdish teacher and trade unionist who is at risk of execution.
Iranian teacher unionist still alive, but remains at riskEducation International has been informed that Farzad Kamangar, the Iranian Kurdish teacher and social worker sentenced to death on “absolutely zero evidence” according to his lawyer, could be hanged on Wednesday 26 November 2008.
Alert: Iranian teacher unionist could be executed todayJoviel Acevedo has experienced many threats during his career as a union leader, but recently he was shocked to see reports in the media of his own assassination. The Guatemalan Education Workers Union (STEG) is concerned that the false news of their General Secretary's death was meant to threaten and...
Guatemala: teacher union leader's life threatenedBoth the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers have enthusiastically welcomed the election of Barack Obama, a “friend of public education,” to the White House.
American education unions welcome Obama’s electionFive teachers and eight students have been killed, and nearly 30, 000 more students have been deprived of the right to education after the last schools still operating in Somalia’s capital city of Mogadishu were closed in mid-October due to the unacceptable risk of violence.
Somalia: the end of educationThe Global Call for Action Against Poverty, a growing movement of citizens across the world, is urging everyone once again to stand up and take action against poverty, and for equity and justice.
Urgent call to action: Stand up against poverty!Iranian teachers trying to attend a trade union meeting have been illegally detained in Iran. Teacher trade unions convened the meeting to give members the opportunity to peacefully discuss possible activities to celebrate World Teachers Day. Every year on 5 October, millions of educators worldwide undertake public activities highlighting that...
Iran: Arrest of teachers attending a union meetingHuman Rights in China has learned that Liu Shaokun, a teacher who was sentenced to one year of Re-education Through Labour after posting online his photographs of collapsed school buildings in earthquake-affected areas, was released by the authorities on 24 September. He will now be permitted to serve his sentence...
Sichuan teacher who posted photos of collapsed schools now released from labour campThe President of the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe, who was illegally arrested and held incommunicado under appalling conditions, has now been released from prison.
Zimbabwean teacher trade unionist released from prisonAccording to the latest news on Farsi websites, the situation of Iranian teacher trade unionist Farzad Kamangar remains critical. Farzad is still alive, but facing the death sentence which has not yet been commuted. At present, he is in solitary confinement in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison in section 209, the...
Save Farzad: Your support is still urgently needed!Iranians are using the internet to exercise their right to free expression as never before - despite strict prohibitions and severe penalties imposed by the authorities.
Iran: The internet fosters free expressionA teacher who published online photos of schools that collapsed due to the Sichuan earthquake has been ordered to serve one year of Reeducation-Through-Labour, according to Human Rights in China.
China: Teacher punished for photos of schoolsThe final deadline to apply for the Global Labour University programme at the University of Campinas in Brazil has been extended to September 20th.
Global Labour University, Campinas, Brazil: deadline extended to September 20thOn 25 February 2008, the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Farzad Kamangar to death on charges of "endangering national security" and "enmity against God" (moharebe). The death penalty was confirmed by the Supreme Court on 11 July.
Farzad Kamangar: sentenced to death after a five-minute trial