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At Education International’s 10th World Congress, Georgiy Trukhanov was awarded the 2024 Fred van Leeuwen Democracy Award. In this interview, Georgiy looks back on his experience as a union leader defending democracy in wartime.

Worlds of Education: Georgiy, you are the laureate of the Fred van Leeuwen Democracy Award. Congratulations! The prize recognises your extraordinary leadership in defending the independence and sovereignty of your country in a time of war, in protecting the labour rights of Ukrainian educators, and in mobilizing international solidarity to channel humanitarian and material assistance to internally displaced union members. What does this award mean to you?

First of all I want to thank the strong leaders of Education International, Susan Hopgood and David Edwards, and all colleagues for their unwavering solidarity during this time of war and for the support for our organisation and Ukraine as a whole. I sincerely thank EI for the trust and for appreciating our work.

For me the Fred Van Leeuwen Prize for Democracy is much more than a personal honour. It is a recognition of the efforts of our entire organisation in this extremely difficult time for Ukraine. It is a recognition of the unity of our teachers, educators, of all Ukrainians, of their determination not to give up and continue the struggle, each in his or her way. We all are confident that one day we will be awarded with a long-awaited Victory and a just and sustainable peace.

Worlds of Education: Could you introduce yourself to our readers and tell us about the journey that brought you to this point?

I graduated from a pedagogical university with a degree in geography, after which I started my work in trade unions. I’ve been a trade unionist for 41 years. I’m a trade unionist in my soul and heart. In 2010, I was elected President of the Trade Union of Education and Science Workers of Ukraine. It was a very challenging period as Crimea and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk were occupied in 2014 and we lost a lot of our members. Now we have been facing a full-scale war for almost two and a half years. We are losing people every day: our soldiers are being killed by the enemy on the frontline, civilians are killed by missiles and shelling. Many people are fleeing their homes in search of a safer place to live, both in Ukraine and abroad. But in this situation we are even more determined to continue to work hard because we want to see Ukraine alive and to see our organisation active.

Worlds of Education: What is it like to be a union leader in a time of war and to protect the labour rights of your members in such challenging circumstances?

After the outbreak of the war, the Trade Union of Education and Science Workers of Ukraine continued its work, protecting and defending teachers and students, and fighting for decent working conditions and salaries for educators. Of course, we now have a completely different reality than five years ago, as martial law is in force. However we are doing everything in our power to ensure that educators do not lose hope and continue to work, that their working conditions remain decent, that even in times of war, educators continue to receive salaries even while abroad and teaching online. Of course, the war has posed many other challenges that require our attention and action.

Worlds of Education: International solidarity is an essential component of the trade union movement. Why does it matter in your context and what has it allowed your organisation to accomplish for members over the most recent period?

I believe that international solidarity is a key component of victory, victory both on the battlefield and the victory of a democratic and civilized society over terrorism. And I'm not talking only about Ukraine here. Without international solidarity and support, Ukraine would no longer exist as a country, and we all realize this.

We deeply appreciate and feel the strong support and solidarity of Education International and the entire international trade union community.

In addition to political support, over the past two and a half years, our trade union has been receiving financial assistance from the Education International Solidarity Fund and direct financial contributions from trade unions in different countries. We did not expect that we could rely on such long-lasting and substantial support for us and our members.

All these funds, as well as our union's own funds, were channeled to support members who were injured, to the families of educators who were killed, to those who lost their homes or whose homes were partially destroyed. Internally displaced trade union members also received targeted financial assistance from our union.

TUESWU in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme implemented the project «Education without Limits» opening educational spaces for internally displaced educators and students in western regions of Ukraine. Here teachers are provided with access to the internet, educational resources, and decent working conditions that enable them to teach remotely, support children and youth, and give them opportunities for learning and further development. Seminars are also held in these spaces from time to time. We are planning to start English courses for students from the temporarily occupied territories and for students who are training to become teachers.

In 2023, during the winter, TUESWU in cooperation with the Polish Teachers’ Union ZNP and with financial support from the American Federation of Teachers provided 50 generators to 12 educational institutions in one of the regions.

Our trade union has also completed the project "Solidarity Plus: Protecting Children from War", funded by our Italian partners. The project has the overall goal of creating a safe environment for children and teachers by organising a shelter in a secondary school in the Kyiv region.

The Odessa region is constantly under missile and drone attacks. Recently, thanks again to the financial support of our Italian colleagues from CGIL, we opened the Trade Union Centre for Social and Psychological Rehabilitation and Assistance in Odessa. We hope it will help to maintain the psychological health of our educators.

For the third year in a row, our trade union, with support and financial assistance from our German colleagues, is sending groups of children of trade union members who suffered from the war for rehabilitation and recreation in summer camps across Germany. In addition, for the past three years, TUESWU has been organising summer camps for children of educators in cooperation with our Lithuanian colleagues.

Now we are working on the reconstruction of our trade union children's camp which is located in the Kyiv region and was partially destroyed after a rocket attack. The National Education Union from the UK is supporting us in this project.

We managed to implement all these projects only thanks to international solidarity.

Worlds of Education: The Fred van Leeuwen Democracy Award was attributed for the very first time this year. In your experience, what is the role of education unions and unionists in the fight to defend and promote democracy?

I had the honour of working with Fred van Leeuwen when he was EI General Secretary. He visited Ukraine, Kyiv in 2014 after the Trade Unions Building was burned down during the Revolution of Dignity. Education International did not abandon our educators in their hour of need then and continues to support us consistently and strongly now.

What is the global role of trade unions? It is to protect the rights and interests of workers, their members! Workers’ rights can only be meaningful in a democratic and just society. Therefore, trade unions are natural advocates and defenders of democratic values all around the world. Where there is no democracy there can be no freedom of association, no workers’ rights. And we see this in the temporarily occupied regions of Ukraine, we see this in Russia. The absence of democratic principles in one country leads to it attacking another country, disregarding international conventions, laws and the right of people to self-determination. Ukraine is in this situation now, defending its democratic values against an aggressor country that has no such values.

In the context of your question, we are talking about the importance of mainstreaming democratic principles and values into the curricula, into the whole education system, which is one of the main tasks of education trade unions. This is how we protect democracy and strengthen it in all our countries.

Worlds of Education: Democracy and peace are facing increasing threats, and, in many places, education communities suffer the consequences of conflict and/or authoritarianism. Is there a message you would like to share with education unionists from around the world?

In Ukraine, for more than two years, all our people, all our institutions, all trade unions, the entire nation has been united by a single goal - to defend our democracy, to live in peace, to protect the rights of people to live on their land and to protect the right of our country to simply exist.

Education trade unions play an important role in the defence of the values of democracy, progress, and the right to quality education and development.

Despite constant shelling, destruction, blackouts, and the lack of communication and Internet, Ukrainian teachers continue to work – continue teaching and nurturing the future of our country.

So, my message to education unionists in countries suffering from conflicts and authoritarianism: Be strong, continue fighting, your courage and dedication inspire and strengthen the whole nation and give children faith in a better future. Work to bring about fair, lasting and sustainable peace.

And a message to trade unionists from other countries: Solidarity matters a lot in the struggle for peace and democracy, it’s a path to victory. Only together will we achieve justice, peace and preserve the democratic world!