Global movement to defend education support personnel rights builds power across borders

Building power as a global movement to defend Education Support Personnel (ESP) rights and status was top of the agenda at the breakout session titled “Defending ESP rights: Organising against funding shortfalls and privatisation” and held on July 30th 2024, during the 10th World Congress of Education International (EI). In the face of funding shortfalls and privatisation, education unions worldwide are rallying to protect the rights and status of ESP.

The breakout session brought EI member organizations together to share strategies to defend ESP against the negative impacts of privatisation and funding shortfalls and learn from other unions’ successful campaigns and tactics as well as the lessons they learnt from less successful efforts.

Building power through global community

For Marjolaine Perrault, Executive Director of the Quebec’s Union Confederation (Centrale des Syndicats du Québec-CSQ), Canada, and EI Executive Board member, more investment is needed to have sufficient numbers of trained and qualified education support staff, with quality working conditions, decent living wages and quality career paths.

In her introductory remarks, the committed advocate for ESP rights welcomed the fact that the Congress will discuss the resolution proposed by CSQ/Canada, NEA/USA, AFT//USA, CNTE/Brazil, UNSA-Education/France and SNUipp-FSU/France. This resolution is based on the Aveiro Statement adopted at the 2nd ESP Conference held in Portugal in 2023.

The Aveiro Statement specifically recalls "the many challenges of these staff and the consequences of austerity policies on working conditions. These staff, allies of teachers, are mostly women. They are present everywhere in our education system, from early childhood to university.

The struggle against privatization and funding s op hortfalls

During a panel discussion focusing on union campaigns to increase public education funding and improve conditions for ESP, Sandra de Leon, President of the Association of Workers in Secondary Education (Asociación de Trabajadores de Enseñanza Secundaria-ATES), Uruguay, explained that her union is organizing ESP exclusively and opposing cuts to ESP salaries imposed by a right-wing government. ATES is calling for increased funding for ESP and has been raising awareness amongst the public of the threats posed by privatization of education.

Erzsebet Nagy, Executive Board member of the Teachers' Democratic Union of Hungary (PDSZ, Hungarian acronym), said that PDSZ is fighting for higher ESP salaries and an increasing pay scale to reflect career progression. The union, however, is confronted with a government that prioritises cutting costs rather than quality terms of employment for ESP. PDSZ have been striking for better working conditions and have recently won a decrease in contact-time work hours for ESP.

Sylvester Mutindindi, general secretary of the Zimbabwe Educational, Health, Scientific, Social and Cultural Workers Union (ZEHSSCWU), underlined that ZEHSSCWU has achieved better working conditions and salaries for ESP through a process of collective bargaining.

Advancing the global ESP movement

The session reaffirmed the central role of ESP in sustaining education communities and supporting marginalized students. Education unions are resisting global trends that threaten ESP's right to quality working conditions. They are standing up for professional respect in the face of increasing privatisation and austerity policies, which are negatively impacting ESP in multiple ways across material, social and pedagogical dimensions and in turn threaten the provision of inclusive, quality education.

Setting the stage for future actions: “Go Public! Fund ESP”

Participants engaged in group and plenary discussions to share campaign strategies and suggest priority areas of work for EI to engage in on ESP until next Congress period. They further underscored the importance of collective efforts to ensure increased investment in ESP and the success of EI’s "Go Public: Fund Education!" campaign.