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 Bahraini Supreme Court of Appeal has once more turned down Bahrain Teacher Association’s president Mahdi Abu Dheeb’s request for temporary release because of health reasons.
Bahrain: Mahdi Abu Dheeb denied release on bail yet again
EI and ETUCE strongly condemn the police raid against union members of the Confederation of Public Employees’ Unions (KESK) on 13 February in Ankara. Fifteen women union leaders were dragged from their bed and taken into custody. The union offices and personal computers were also searched.
Turkey: Sign urgent appeal to condemn the arrests of female union officers in connection with 8th of March celebrations
One of EI’s national affiliates, the Fédération Camerounaise des Syndicats de l'Education(FECASE), has joined other education unions supported by the Public Sector Union Confederation (CSP) calling for a strike in the basic and secondary education sectors on 14-17 February. Trade Unionists condemn the government’s attitude, saying it is not adhering...
Cameroon: Strike action to protest at broken government promises
Mahdi Abu Dheeb, the imprisoned president of Bahrain's Teachers’ Association, has begun a hunger strike to protest about his unfair detention and continued ill-treatment in prison.
Bahrain: Teacher leader on hunger strike
A 23-year-old Chilean student leader has been named as ‘Person of the Year 2011’ by a British newspaper. Camila Vallejo received the accolade from The Guardian, ahead of leading personalities, including German chancellor Angela Merkel. Vallejo, ex-President of the University of Chile’s Student Federation (FECH), secured 78 per cent of...
Chilean student leader named Person of the year 2011 by UK newspaper
EI and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) have condemned the latest developments in the negotiation between the national government and the Troika (European Commission, European Central Bank [ECB], and International Monetary Fund [IMF]) that would smash minimum wages, collective agreements and rights in Greece.
Greece: Austerity measures put trade union rights at considerable risk
EI has launched a campaign to urge the Bahraini authorities to immediately release on bail Mahdi 'Issa Mahdi Abu Dheeb, President of the Bahraini Teachers Association (BTA), given his deteriorating health condition. This campaign is organised in partnership with LabourStart, an online news service aiming to serve the international trade...
Bahrain: Help free trade union leader Mahdi 'Issa Mahdi Abu Dheeb!
Amir Hekmati (28), an Arizona born Iranian-American, accused of spying for the CIA, was sentenced to death earlier this week after an unfair trial without access to consular assistance.
Iran must stop execution of Amir Hekmati
Tens of thousands of teachers including EI’s affiliates the Syndicate of Private School Teachers (TSL) and the League of Public Secondary Teachers (LPESPL), went on strike across Lebanon on December 15. They are threatening to widen the action if the government fails to improve its planned wage increase.
Lebanon: teacher unions strike over insulting wage rise
At its 39th meeting held on 30 November-1 December, EI Executive Board adopted new policies related to the crisis and its impact on unions worldwide. These policies are partly represented by resolutions on ‘the Strengthening of International Trade Unionism within the Context of Globalisation,’ and ‘EI Structures.’
EI strengthens international trade unionism and its internal structures
EI has launched a petition in association with LabourStart to condemn the prison sentences imposed on 25 Turkish trade unionists, members of both EI affiliate Egitim Sen and the Confederation of Public Employees’ Unions (KESK).
Turkey: Sign urgent appeal to condemn the prison sentences against teacher unionists
The appeal of Bahrain Teacher Association (BTA) leaders, Jalila al-Salman and Mahdi Abu Dheeb, has been postponed to 19 February, in order to be able to include the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) report. This postponement will effectively prolong the detention of Mahdi Abu Dheeb, the...
Bahrain: Appeal of teacher union leaders postponed
Fiji’s military regime has refused to allow an Australian and New Zealand trade union delegation to enter the country on 13 December. Representatives of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) were denied permission to enter the country on arrival at...
Fiji: Government refuses entry to international trade union delegation
Education International (EI) has launched a new Urgent Action Appeal on Bahrain, calling on its member organisations to contact their national government as well as the Bahraini diplomatic representations in their country to urge the Bahraini authorities to review the charges and convictions and commute sentences of all teachers, teacher...
Bahrain: EI launches a new Urgent Action Appeal
The EI Executive Board, meeting in Brussels this week, learned with great regret that 25 Turkish trade unionists, members of EGITIM Sen-KESK, which includes the EI affiliate in Turkey, had prison sentences imposed by the Turkish courts for engaging in what would be regarded elsewhere as legitimate trade union activities.
EI Executive Board condemns unjust prison sentence on trade union activists in Turkey
EI General Secretary, Fred van Leeuwen, recently visited the Kingdom of Bahrain, in order to get first-hand impressions of the situation in a country that has seen severe mistreatment of teachers in the past months, following “Arab Spring”-inspired upheavals throughout the middle eastern state.
Bahrain: The international teacher trade union movement shows solidarity
EI’s U.S. affiliates, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), have celebrated the historical vote overwhelmingly repealing Senate Bill 5, a controversial bill signed into law by Governor John Kasich. This legislation was designed to silence the public workers’ voices and strip away their collective...
USA: Ohioan voters reject anti-worker law and agenda
The Estonian Educational Personal Union (EEPU), one of EI’s national affiliates, has joined a successful demonstration supporting educators’ justified salary demands, held on 25 October in the capital city, Tallinn, in front of the Riigikogu (the Estonian Parliament).
Estonia: massive support for educators’ demand for salary raise