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.
EI’s national affiliates, the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU), the South Africa National Professional Teachers’ Organisation (NAPTOSA), and the Suid-Afrikaanse Onderwysersunie(SAOU), joined by the Professional Educators Union and the National Teachers’ Union, have taken the fight to reinstate a collective agreement to court. The agreement, signed between teacher unions...
South Africa: unions bring Department of Basic Education to court
EI organised a workshop enabling representatives of 16 member organisations in the Pacific to campaign for the promotion of trade union rights in the region. The workshop was hosted in Fiji on 19-22 August with the support of the Workers Group of the International Labour Organisation (ILO-ACTRAV).
Teacher unions in the Pacific learn more about their rights
An EI delegation is attending regional meetings on labour standards in Fiji. EI representatives are holding talks with teachers' representatives from the Fijian Teachers' Association and the Fiji Teacher Union who deplored the clampdown on union rights since the 2006 coup.
Fiji: Exposing the clampdown on union rights
Two of EI’s affiliates, the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) and the National Union of Teachers (NUT), have criticised a survey released by the UK polling organisation, Populus.
UK: Education Secretary must listen to teachers, not attack them
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), one of EI’s affiliates in the country, has informed EI that the teachers’ national strike which started on 25 June was called off on 17 July. The education union urged teachers to report back to their schools the next day. Unfortunately, however, the...
Kenya: Government withholds salaries after teachers’ strike ends
EI is relieved to learn that the death sentence imposed on Iranian teacher Abdolreza Ghanbari has been reduced to 15 years’ detention and exile by the Tehran Revolutionary Court.
Iranian teacher Abdolreza Ghanbari saved from execution
Education International strongly condemns the killing of Mohamed Brahmi, a secular Tunisian political leader. An outspoken critic of the Government who represented the Front Populaire in the Tunisian Parliament, Mohamed Brahmi was shot down in front of his home in Tunis on 25 July.
Tunis: Condemnation of murder of MP and comrade Mohamed Brahmi
EI organised national training and awareness workshops on the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burkina Faso.
Burkina Faso: Respect for fundamental principles and rights at work
One of EI’s national affiliates, the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (ZIMTA), and children’s rights activists have criticised the use of schools as political campaign venues, pointing out that it contravenes the national Constitution.
Zimbabwe: Schools should be spared political activity
Leadership skills and union finances were the focus of a three-day workshoporganised by EI for 15 members of one of its Malaysian affiliates, the Sabah Teachers Union (STU-Sabah). It was held from 7-9 July in Kota Kinabalu.
Malaysia: EI workshop builds leadership skills
On 18 July, EI marks International Nelson Mandela Day. The day honours Mandela’s life-long dedication to social justice, and urges people to take small actions to improve their communities and change the world. This year's Nelson Mandela International Day will focus on shelter, literacy and food security.
Mandela Day: small actions can change your world
The NASUWT and the NUT, two of EI’s national affiliates in the UK, are taking joint action as part of their campaign to protect teachers and education. The educators’ unions are in dispute with the Government over teachers’ pay, pensions and working conditions. Tens of thousands of teachers in the...
UK: Education unions’ joint strike rallies
Teacher unionists in the US organised a protest in front of the Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C. The move was in support of the South Korean education support workers union (KPTU-EdSol). A massive rally is planned for 22 June, in which tens of thousands of Korean workers are expected to...
South Korea: International actions in support of education support workers
EI and the Global Unions have expressed their unreserved support to the international solidarity actions to be held on 21-22 June to defend fundamental human rights and democracy in Turkey.
Turkey: International solidarity to be shown during days of action
EI Deputy General Secretary Haldis Holst, in a speech to the International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on 13 June, urged the ILO to guarantee decent work and social dialogue for teachers worldwide. She highlighted that this would contribute achieving quality education for all.
EI demands decent work and social dialogue for educators
Speaking on behalf of the Workers’ Group at the ILO Conference Committee on the Application of Standards on June 7, Antonia Wulff, from Education International, warned of global trends leading to the deprofessionalisation of the teaching profession.
EI warns ILO conference of deprofessionalisation trend
“EI welcomes the useful and clear reaffirmation of the right to collective bargaining for public sector teachers, whether or not they are appointed as civil servants, by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations,” has stated EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen...
ILO examines collective bargaining in the public services