All teachers and education support personnel have the right to organise and be part of a union that represents and defends their values and interests. However, around the world, education unions are facing serious attacks and operate in increasingly challenging and hostile environments. Revitalising unions, building their power by boosting membership and active participation and maximising impact is the way forward.
The foundation for an education based on a human rights-centric approach, encompassing universal values of understanding and tolerance, and of seeing cultural differences as opportunity rather than threat was the message today in Riga, Latvia.
Universal values at heart of human rights education
The Ecuadorian government’s harsh attacks on trade union rights and the response by educators were put under the spotlight at the 2016 International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva, Switzerland.
Ecuador: Education unions under fire
The threat represented by the lack of public investment in education, the trend toward privatisation and the erosion of the fundamental labour rights of educators was put on the table at the annual ILO Conference in Geneva.
Privatisation of education under scrutiny at ILO Conference
With the 105th Session of the International Labour Conference about to kick-off in Geneva, Switzerland, education unions from around the world are set to strongly represent the rights and working conditions of teachers.
International Labour Conference to address teachers’ labour rights
A general strike and mass demonstrations hit Belgium today. Trade unions protested against austerity measures, including cuts in the education budget, and condemning also a breakdown of social dialogue.
Belgium: Halt to cuts in public services!
Esmail Abdi, the general secretary of the Tehran branch of the Iranian Teachers’ Trade Association, has been released on bail after spending months behind bars on security charges.
Imprisoned Iranian trade unionist set free on bail
The online teacher resource on human rights, “Speak Truth To Power Canada”, has received this year’s Award of Outstanding Achievement in New Media by the Canadian Museums Association.
“Speak Truth To Power Canada” receives national award
A new Human Rights Watch report shows that Boko Haram’s targeted attacks on schools, students, and teachers have affected all strata of life in Nigeria’s northeast, with education as the fault line of the conflict.
Report reveals Boko Haram’s devastating toll on education in northeast Nigeria
The 2016 Arthur Svensson prize for trade union rights has been awarded to the online news service LabourStart, which collects and disseminates information to assist unions and defend labour rights around the world.
International campaign organisation LabourStart wins international prize for trade union rights
Earlier today, Mahdi Abu Dheeb, leader of the Bahrain Teachers Association, an EI affiliate in the country, was released from prison. He had been held in detention since 2011, when he was sentenced to a prison sentence for the simple fact of calling for a teachers’ strike in support of...
Bahrain: Teacher leader freed after five years in prison
Abdolreza Ghanbari and Ali Akbar Baghani, members of the Iranian Teacher Trade Associations, for whom Education International had launched a solidarity campaign, have been released. Ghanbari had been awaiting execution for 2 years before his sentence was commuted to 15 years’ imprisonment.
Iranian teacher unionists released after global solidarity campaign
Education International has launched an urgent action appeal in support of jailed Colombian academic and unionist Miguel Ángel Beltrán.
Colombia: EI demands immediate release of academic and unionist Miguel Ángel Beltrán
A hard-fought 10-year trade union battle has borne fruit with Tonga becoming the 187th member state of the International Labour Organisation.
Tonga joins the ILO
The global education trade union movement has firmly condemned the murder of environmentalist and human rights defender Berta Caceres.
Honduras: Prominent human rights defender murdered
The killing of a teacher unionist has exposed the deteriorating political situation in Haiti where the country was left to linger in constitutional limbo following the resignation of President Michel Martelly.
Haiti: political violence claims academic’s life
Renewed efforts are underway to free Esmail Abdi after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court officially sentenced the teacher unionist to six years in prison for alleged crimes related to trade union activism.
Labour unions up in arms after Iran’s Esmail Abdi sentenced to six years in prison
Teacher unionist and human rights defender Omar Ali Ewado is once again a free man after he was released from prison on 14 February following an appeals court decision that dismissed charges against him.
Djibouti: teacher unionist released from prison after global support
Teachers’ unions in Italy are urging Egyptian authorities to launch a full investigation into the death of Giulio Regeni, who was murdered while publishing articles on trade union rights, and who’s death remains a mystery.
Italian researcher’s death in Egypt spurs calls for inquiry