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 and the Global Unions have expressed their unreserved support to the international solidarity actions to be held on 21-22 June to defend fundamental human rights and democracy in Turkey.
Turkey: International solidarity to be shown during days of action
EI Deputy General Secretary Haldis Holst, in a speech to the International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on 13 June, urged the ILO to guarantee decent work and social dialogue for teachers worldwide. She highlighted that this would contribute achieving quality education for all.
EI demands decent work and social dialogue for educators
Speaking on behalf of the Workers’ Group at the ILO Conference Committee on the Application of Standards on June 7, Antonia Wulff, from Education International, warned of global trends leading to the deprofessionalisation of the teaching profession.
EI warns ILO conference of deprofessionalisation trend
“EI welcomes the useful and clear reaffirmation of the right to collective bargaining for public sector teachers, whether or not they are appointed as civil servants, by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations,” has stated EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen...
ILO examines collective bargaining in the public services
On 6-7 June, EI participated in the presentation of the ILO (International Labour Organisation) Survey on Collective Bargaining in the Public Services. Various speakers stressed the need for ILO Conventions 151 and 154 to be widely ratified and implemented. Workers also requested a four-year action plan by the ILO to...
EI calls for reverse of negative trend around workers’ rights
The Honduran government has accepted a direct contacts mission from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), following a recommendation from the ILO workers’ group, supported by employers. Honduras was the first case examined by the ILO Committee on the Application of Standards this year because of the persistent and serious nature...
Honduras: ILO will send mission to examine trade union rights
Teachers across Canada have identified a pressing need for more human rights’ tools and resources - especially when teaching younger children. This is according to a national survey by EI’s affiliate, the Canadian Teachers' Federation (CTF), and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR).
Canada: Teachers’ survey flags scarce resources on human rights education
The Education Minister and the teachers organisations of Honduras should as soon as possible resume discussions on the future of the Honduran public school system. Their dialogue should be based on mutual respect and should aim at improving quality education for all children. This was the message conveyed by EI...
Education Minister and Teachers Organisations of Honduras must resume dialogue
EI has welcomed the release on bail of 22 trade unionists, after 289 days in jail. Among the released are Mehmet Bozgeyik and Sakine Eren Y?lmaz, respectively General Secretary and Women’s Secretary of Egitim Sen, EI’s national affiliate.
Turkey: High court releases trade unionists
Two years have passed since the arrest of Mahdi Abu Dheeb, the Bahrain Teachers’ Association leader, and his agony continues.
Bahrain: Call for Mahdi Abu Dheeb's release on the second anniversary of his imprisonment
The United Nations Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown, Education International and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) are demanding of the authorities in Pakistan that they enable girls to go to schools which are safe and secure.
Pakistan: We stand with the children and teachers!
Education International will organize a memorial for the teachers who have been murdered in Pakistan recently. EI will also establish a girls’ scholarship fund to promote girls’ education and to support teachers and students victimised because of their support for girls schooling.
Pakistan: Remembering murdered teachers
A head teacher was murdered this morning in Pakistan - and three school children are fighting for their lives with another three badly injured - after the latest attack on a school and on the right of girls to education.
Pakistan: Attacks on schools and teachers now occurring daily
In a statement issued today, the UN Secretary-General calls on the international community to prevent violations of the right to education, prompted by the heinous killing of Shahnaz Nazli, in Peschawar, Pakistan.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon condemns killing of woman teacher in Pakistan
Shahnaz Nazli, a 41 year old female teacher at a girls’ school near the town of Jamrud in Peschawar, Pakistan, was shot for wanting to teach girls, on Tuesday March 26th as she walked to school. Gunmen opened fire, when Ms Nazli was just 200 metres from the school, and...
EI condemns shooting of Pakistani woman teacher
On 7 March, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten was placed in handcuffs and arrested along with 18 other activists during a protest against the closure of 29 public schools in Philadelphia which, according to Mayor Nutter and the School Reform Commission, are poorly performing schools.
USA: Teacher leader arrested
The Gambia Teachers’ Union (GTU) celebrated its 76th anniversary on 16 February.The theme of the celebration was “Enhanced Synergy: an Inevitable Necessity for our Unity”.
The Gambia: educators’ union celebrates 76th anniversary
The Syndicat National des Agents de la Formation et de l’Education du Niger(SYNAFEN), one of EI’s national affiliates, has called on the Government to respect the country’s Constitution and urged that dialogue and not force be used to resolve conflict. It made its demands in a Statement published after it...
Niger: Teachers union calls on government to negotiate in good faith