EI to put education on the agenda at the International Labour Conference
An EI delegation is all set to participate in the annual conference of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) from 28 May to 12 Juneto promote decent working conditions for teachers and to advocate for quality education as an enabler to all other rights promoted by the ILO.
The EI delegation attending the conference at the ILO and UN headquarters in Geneva will be composed of education union representatives from Algeria, Argentina, Botswana, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Korea, Nepal, Nicaragua, Singapore, and South Africa.
The International Labour Conference is the “international parliament of labour” where social and labour questions of importance to the world are addressed by workers’, employers’ and Governments’ representatives. Standard items are the review by the Commission on the Application of Standards of how member states apply fundamental labour Conventions, the report of the Director General, as well as the follow-up on the 2008 ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalisation.
EI representatives will contribute on each of these topics and insert education unions’ concerns in the dialogue.
Commission on the Application of Standards
The report of the Commission on the Application of Standards reviews how 25 countries violate workers’ rights by not complying with ILO conventions. The countries are chosen on the basis of the 2014 Report of the Committee of Experts. Governments are invited to contribute to the report and workers and employers contribute facts. The Commission then formulates conclusions, inviting the Governments either to take specific measures in order to solve problems or to accept missions or technical assistance from the ILO. EI is in contact with teacher representatives from different countries that will be reviewed, to assess how the case of teachers can best be highlighted in the debates. The EI delegation is prepared to contribute to the discussions on Algeria, Cambodia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Korea, Swaziland, and Turkey among others.
The report of the General Survey, which focuses on “Minimum Wage Systems” this year, will be presented on 30 May.
Report of the Director General
On 4 June, the EI Deputy General Secretary, Haldis Holst, will address the ILO. She will bring the teacher unions’ perspective on quality education and skills into the debate on youth employment.
ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalisation
The recurrent discussion will focus on Employment as one of the four strategic objectives of the ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalisation.
Other standard items:
The ILO Governing Body has placed two additional standard items on this year’s agenda:a discussion on a standard setting instrument to supplement the Forced Labour Convention 29 ( Report 1, 2, 3); and a discussion on a standard setting instrument on “Facilitating transitions from the informal to the formal economy” ( Report).
Route of Shame
On 4 June, EI representatives will join Public Services International in the Route of Shame 2014. At 6.30pm Geneva’s time, trade union leaders from around the world will leave the Place des Nations in Geneva to stop at various embassies to demand respect for trade union rights. The ‘Route of Shame’ 2014 will stop, among others, at the embassies of Algeria, Egypt, Swaziland, Turkey, Greece, Guatemala, Ecuador, Honduras, Colombia, South Korea, Bangladesh,and Cambodia.
