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.
Salary arrears and the lack of progress in negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement have driven EI affiliate the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) to strike indefinitely. An ultimatum presented to President John Kufuor’s government says if demands are not met by next week, teachers in higher institutions will...
Ghana: Teachers and Educational Workers Begin Indefinite Strike
EI has requested ILO to set international standards for the recruitment of teachers. In his address to the annual ILO Conference in Geneva, EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen said that industrialized countries should not try to remedy teacher shortages by poaching teachers from low-income countries. Van Leeuwen recommended that...
General Debate Statement by Fred van Leeuwen, General Secretary of Education International at the International Labour Conference, Geneva
Romanian EI affiliate Fédération des Syndicats de l’Enseignement SPIRU-HARET have demanded President Traian Basescu to once again intervene in their relations with the government, as the agreement reached with the government after their last protest has not been respected.
Romania: Teachers ask president to mediate conflict
An international trade union mission composed of two representatives from EI and the African director of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) managed to open doors in Ethiopia. Meetings could soon be secured with the Ethiopian Ministers of Education and Information, together with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and embassy...
Ethiopia: EI mission relaunches social dialogue
After EI's letter to the Macedonian government dated 16 May to condemn its breach of a wage agreement with the teachers, the latter finally approved an agreement on 26 May to respect the wage deal signed with the teachers' union SONK, an EI affiliate.
Macedonia: Positive Outcome for Teachers and SONK
Education International has written to Dr Sintayehu Michael, the Ethiopian Minister of Education, drawing his attention to the case of Mulunesh Abebayehu Teklewold, a female teacher who has been held without trial since November 2005.
Ethiopia: Teacher detained - EI writes to Minister of Education
Education International has written to the ILO in support of Australian affiliate the NTEU. The action was prompted by the Australian Government’s Higher Education Workplace Relations Requirements (HEWRRs), legislation which constitutes a breach of ILO Conventions ratified by Australia.
Australia: Education International supports affiliate the NTEU
This year, Education International will once again be present at the 95th International Labour Conference (ILC) which will open on 31 May in Geneva. The Conference is the annual tripartite meeting of the International Labour Organisation's 178 member states.
EI at the 95th International Labour Conference
Leaders of Britain's largest lecturers' union, EI affiliate the NATFHE, have voted unanimously to escalate their national pay dispute with universities, with a call to hold out for their demands "to Christmas and beyond".
UK: Lecturers prepared for prolonged pay battle with universities
EI calls upon all its member organisations to submit nominations for the 2006 UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education.
EI: Call for nominations for the 2006 UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education
From May 18-23, an international mission composed of officials from Education International (EI), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) will be in Ethiopia to meet with Ethiopian government officials, embassy officials, and detained ETA officials.
Ethiopia: International mission from 18-23 May
EI sent a letter to the Prime Minister of the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia to condemn the government's breach of a wage agreement with teachers.
Macedonia: EI condemns breach of agreement
Further to the news item dated 10 May, EI issues a letter to the President of Côte d’Ivoire, demading him to open an impartial inquiry into the pillage of SYNESCI headoffice and guarantee the social dialogue with teacher union representatives and the legal undertaking of trade union activities.
Côte d’Ivoire: EI protests to the President
EI has relaunched its Urgent Action Appeal for Ethiopia, to bring to the attention of member and partner organisations worldwide the urgent situation its affiliate, the "Ethiopian Teacher Association" (ETA) is now in. The Ethiopian government has repeatedly harassed and threatened the ETA, by dispossessing it of its properties, imprisonning...
Ethiopia: EI relaunches Urgent Action Appeal
EI contacted the President of Côte d'Ivoire to deplore the occupation and devastation of the headoffice of affiliate, the "Syndicat national des enseignants du second degré de Côte d’Ivoire" (SYNESCI) since 4 May. An EI mission conducted at the end of April was not able to confirm the physical security...
Côte d'Ivoire: SYNESCI headoffice occupied and devastated
EI has been informed that the Government of Macedonia is not intending to honour the wage deal it reached with the teachers' union SONK in February 2006 to be implemented tomorrow, May 10.
Macedonia: The Government is cheating teachers
EI voiced its strong protest to the Prime Minister of Cambodia in a letter dated 2 May against a ban on May Day celebrations by its affiliate, the Cambodian Independent Teachers' Association (CITA).
Cambodia: EI protests against May Day ban!
EI sent a letter to the ILO Labour Standards Deputy Director voicing its concern about the violation of human rights by the Nepalese government. In the letter, EI informed the Deputy Director that 20 teacher and union leaders were detained during a crackdown of a general strike on 6 Apr.
EI letter to the ILO concerning Nepal