Ei-iE

Six months ago, the newly elected centre-left government of Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom Caballeros started reversing the privatization of the school system. The government also introduced collective bargaining in the public sector. As a result, a few weeks ago the unions were able to sign a new collective agreement that...

On 30 June, the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) launched a national strike action to press the federal government to implement the promised Teachers’ Salary Structure.

With trade ministers set to meet in Geneva the week of July 21 in what is being billed as the last ditch effort to complete the troubled WTO Doha Round of trade talks, the chair of the services negotiations has released a controversial new framework to guide the discussions.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is determined to help American educators create better opportunities for all children by improving education quality throughout the United States. He criticized the Bush administration for having failed to give teachers the means to achieve the goals of the No Child Left Behind Act, which...

Farzad Kamangar could face execution in the near future, according to the web site Human Rights Activists in Iran. On 11 July, the Iranian Supreme Court confirmed the death penalty against Kamangar, a 33-year-old Kurdish teacher and trade unionist.

EI echoes the call from Public Services International to free Meryem Özsögüt. A member of the executive committee of the Health Workers Trade Union (SES), Özsögüt has been in jail for the past six months for having done nothing more than attend a press conference to denounce the killing of...

In co-operation with Public Services International, Education International will for the first time hold a session on public services and GATS at the upcoming World Trade Organisation (WTO) Public Forum in September.

The convicted murderer of Argentine teacher Carlos Fuentealba has been sentenced to life in prison by a court in Neuquén, the city in which he was killed during a peaceful teacher union demonstration last year.

The government of Indonesia will annually increase the education budget as well as the salaries of teachers. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made that promise to the more than 5000 delegates and observers attending the opening session of the 20th Congress of the Indonesian teachers' union PGRI held in Palembang on...

The University and College Union (UCU) is congratulating UK universities that are doing the most to combat climate change, but is still urging all universities to step up the involvement of staff and students in their efforts. The union has called for a carbon reduction strategy on every campus based...

The national campaign of intimidation against human and trade union rights activists continues even after Robert Mugabe has been sworn in for another 5-year term. This follows an election process described by the African Union as "falling short of accepted AU standards."

Late on 26 June, EI received a disturbing update from Gemoraw Kassa, General Secretary of the ETA, established in 1949 and EI Member, informing EI that the court of cassation at the Federal Supreme Court ruled against the original ETA, 26 June.

Education International and the Global Unions endorse the campaign statement and EI encourages affiliates to support it by sending their organisation’s name and email address to [email protected] with the subject ‘Statement Agreement’ before 30 June 2008.

On the United Nations' International Day in Support of Victims of Torture - observed every year on 26 June - EI pays tribute to the innocent trade union rights activists who are subjected to moral harassment, intimidation, physical assaults and torture for defending fundamental human rights.

Trade unionists, including educators from across Africa and from around the world have called for an official ILO Commission of Inquiry into Zimbabwe, as more reports of torture and murder of trade unionists emerge from the country.

The ASEAN Sub-Regional Conference of the EI Trade Union Rights Network (TURN) will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 27-29 June 2008.

Today, Public Services International, Education International and Oxfam International announced a joint call to world leaders, demanding funds for tens of millions of qualified health workers and teachers worldwide to be trained and hired to deliver public health and education for all. The current gap means that governments are failing...

Zimbabwean teachers are being severely targeted in the brutal reprisals now being meted out as Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party desperately cling to power. EI’s affiliate the Zimbabwe Teacher Association (ZIMTA) and the Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) both reported violence against teachers in the rural areas.