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.
Kim Jeonghun, the president of EI affiliate Korean Teachers’ Union (KTU), has been released. Having been arrested illegally on 22 December 2013, Kim received widespread international support and the warrant for his detention was overruled by a judge, leading to his release on 25 December.
Korea: Union leader freed
Education International has expressed grave concern at the escalating violence against legitimate trade union organisations in South Korea. Authorities have staged raids in the last few days, including against one of EI's affiliates in the country, the Korean Teachers' Union (KTU).
Korea: Teacher trade unionists detained
The Berlin branch of the Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft(GEW), one of EI’s national affiliates, organised a hugely successful industrial action on 4-5 December. More than 2,400 teachers and about 150 pupils participated in the strike, demanding improved living and working conditions for education staff.
Germany: Thousands strike for better living and working conditions
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and the Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (KUDHEIHA), two of EI’s national affiliates, have called on the Government to engage in honest social dialogue to ensure quality education in the country.
Kenya: Educators’ voice should be heard, say unions
On this date, 10 December, Human Rights Day, EI pays tribute to educators around the world who fight for the right to live and work in dignity. These educators and their trade unions also fight for freedom of expression, assembly and association; the right to bargain collectively; and for all...
Educators celebrate International Day for Human Rights
EI has sent a letter to Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian National Authority, urging his government to meet the demands of Palestinian teachers and education workers by fully implementing the 10 per cent salary increase agreed between the government and the General Union of Palestinian Teachers (GUPT) in September.
Palestine: EI support for teachers striking over pay dispute
EI’s affiliate in Turkey, E?itim Sen, has condemned the police crackdown on teachers and demonstrators gathered in Ankara for a protest march demanding quality education on 23 November, on the eve of the national Teachers’ Day.
Turkey: Police confront demonstrators
The President and General Secretary of Education International, Susan Hopgood and Fred van Leeuwen, have told the members of the Environment and Labour Committee of the National Assembly of Korea that the recent de-registration of the Korea Teachers’ and Education Workers’ Union (KTU), one of EI's affiliates in the country,...
South Korea: Outrage over union’s de-registration
Two unions in the UK, representing nine out of 10 teachers, have reaffirmed their commitment to a jointly coordinated campaign, Protect Teachers and Defend Education. This action by the UK’s two largest teachers’ unions, the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT),...
UK: Strike threat remains in place after ‘provocative’ Education Secretary letter
The University and College Union (UCU), one of EI’s national affiliates in the UK, has planned a coordinated strike action on 31 October with UNITE and UNISON to demand fair pay in higher education. Unions are disappointed that employers refused talks to try and avert a walkout, but said they...
UK: University staff to go on strike
On 24 October, the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) was officially deprived of its legal status by the South Korean Govenment. The union had been given a one-month ultimatum to revise its by-laws.
South Korea: educators demand respect for workers’ rights
Spain’s education unions witnessed a successful general education strike on 24 October – the unions involved were EI’s affiliates, CCOO, FETE-UGT and STEs.
Spain: Widespread support for education strike
On 24 October, one of EI’s affiliates, the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU), was officially deprived of legal status by the Park Geun-hye administration. KTU had been given a one-month ultimatum to revise the provision in its by-laws allowing union membership to dismissed and retired teachers. In a...
Korea: KTU deprived of legal status
Because it allows dismissed and retired workers in its membership, the Korea Teacher Union (KTU), one of EI's members in Korea, is threatened with delegalisation. In a communication issued by the Minister of Employment and Labor, KTU was informed it has until 23 October 2013 to amend its by-laws. If...
KOREA: Teacher Union threatened with delegalisation
EI has condemned the attack by the Islamist group, Boko Haram, which killed at least 40 students in Nigeria.
Nigeria: EI condemns murder of students and calls for action against perpetrators
The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) and the National Union of Teachers (NUT), two of EI’s national affiliates, have announced dates for regional rolling strike action in England as a further step in the dispute over pay, pensions, working conditions and jobs.
UK: Regional strike action over pay and conditions
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager shot by the Taliban last year for campaigning for girls' education, has been honoured by Amnesty International in Dublin, Ireland. The 16-year-old has shared the Ambassador of Conscience Award with US singer Harry Belafonte for his work on human rights and social justice. Recipients are...
Amnesty International honours young activist for girls and women’s right to education
EI has joined 15 leading civil society organisations in a call for the human right to education to be recognised and placed at the heart of the post-2015 development framework by member states of the United Nations.
Call for education and other human rights to be at heart of development goals