Ei-iE

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.

A new study commissioned by Education International reveals that a growing trend towards privatization of public education is often camouflaged by the language of “educational reform,” or introduced stealthily as “modernization.” Hence the title of the study: Hidden Privatisation In Public Education.

The University and College Union (UCU) announced on 12 June that it has reached an interim agreement with Keele University over the current dispute involving the School of Economic and Management Studies (SEMS) and the Centre for Health Planning and Management (CHPM).

On the World Day Against Child Labour, 12 June, teacher trade unions around the world will be calling on governments to ensure quality education for all children, and decent work for their parents.

EI's Belgian affiliates, CSC-Enseignement, ACOD and CGSP, joined the three national labour confederations in a united front to protest the declining purchasing power of workers.

Together with the European Student Union (ESU) and its member organisation, the Freier Zusammenschluss von StudentInnenschaften (FZS), EI and its member organisation, the Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft (GEW), are holding a press conference in Berlin on 12 June to present their joint campaign called "Let's Go".

This week, as part of Education International’s campaign against child labour, the Ghanaian affiliates, led by the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) launched a new research study entitled: “National Child Labour Situation and Teacher Unions’ Best Practices and Challenges in This Field”.

Harassment and intimidation of teachers and their trade unions continues in Zimbabwe in the lead-up to the June 27 election to determine whether Robert Mugabe of the ZANU-PF or his opposition challenger Morgan Tsvangirai will win the presidency.

EI will be presenting educators' views on corruption and professional code of conduct at the summer university organised by UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP).

Education International has taken up the cause of Farzad Kamangar, a 32-year-old Iranian teacher and trade unionist who has been repeatedly tortured in custody and sentenced to death by the Tehran Revolutionary Court.

The University and College Union (UCU) will "greylist" the University of Keele from 13 June. The term greylisting refers to a voluntary refusal to participate in the academic and other university activities where appropriate at Keele.

The Director General of the World Trade Organization, Pascal Lamy, says negotiations aimed at liberalizing the trade in agriculture, industrial products and services have progressed to their final critical stage.

The European Union, the United States and Canada are negotiating a new international agreement intended to combat global infringements of intellectual property.

Education International and Public Services International will be hosting a session at the 2008 WTO Public Forum on September 24-25 in Geneva.