Ei-iE

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.

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".

EI calls upon all its member organisations to submit 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.

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.

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.

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...

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...

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.

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).

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 is very concerned about the rising instability in Nepal, where citizens are the victims of repression against Maoist opponents and supporters of democracy. Since 6 Apr, Nepalese citizens have been rallying peacefully everywhere in the country to call for the return to democratic governance, but the excessive use of...

A former president of EI affiliate the National Union of Teachers broke down in tears yesterday as he revealed how stress and "government bullying" had forced him to quit the teaching profession.

EI issued a formal letter to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia on 4 Apr, protesting against the ruling of the Ethiopian Federal High Court on 30 March to recognise the government-sponsored Ethiopian Teacher Association instead of the authentic Ethiopian Teacher Association affiliated to EI.

EI affiliate the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) has called on its members to brace for a nationwide strike should the Government fail to implement the remaining phase of their salary increase scheme.

EI witnessed another dramatic development affecting teachers and their union in Ethiopia. On Thursday 30 March 2006, the Ethiopian Federal High Court ruled that the authentic ETA leadership (EI's affiliate) has to hand over every asset and property of the association to a government-sponsored group also called ETA.

After several weeks of locking horns with government negotiators, officials of EI affiliate the Bahamas Union of Teachers have instructed public school teachers to go on "work to rule" and threatened that more serious action could follow.

Education International has written a letter of support to French affiliates concerning the First Employment Contract (CPE) job law.