Ei-iE

A death threat directed at Roberto Baradel, the general secretary of the Argentinian teachers’ union SUTEBA, has driven the union movement to act as many wonder whether their right to organise is now in peril.

Education International (EI) has been informed by its affiliate in Argentina, the Confederación de Trabajadores de la Educación de la República Argentina (CTERA), about the anonymous threats received by the General Secretary of the Sindicato Unificado de Trabajadores de la Educación de Buenos Aires (SUTEBA) and the Administrative Secretary of CTERA, Roberto Baradel.

Baradel is not the only one to be threatened, since his family, and in particular his daughter, have also been victims of continued intimidation. CTERA has informed EI that this methodology has already been used on previous occasions against the union leader.

EI demands the protection and respect of union freedom

In an official communication to the Minister of Education of the Republic of Argentina, Esteban José Bullrich, EI condemns this situation, which “infringes upon all types of social dialogue between those that govern and those that are governed and between authorities and workers, bordering on the violation of both union and human rights”.

The international organisation has urged the Minister to carry out an investigation into the threats and to provide protection for Baradel and his family. Furthermore, it has emphasised the need to protect union rights and the negotiation of education workers in line with what is established in the Conventions of the International Labour Organization.