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.
Iranian teachers trying to attend a trade union meeting have been illegally detained in Iran. Teacher trade unions convened the meeting to give members the opportunity to peacefully discuss possible activities to celebrate World Teachers Day. Every year on 5 October, millions of educators worldwide undertake public activities highlighting that...
Iran: Arrest of teachers attending a union meeting
Human Rights in China has learned that Liu Shaokun, a teacher who was sentenced to one year of Re-education Through Labour after posting online his photographs of collapsed school buildings in earthquake-affected areas, was released by the authorities on 24 September. He will now be permitted to serve his sentence...
Sichuan teacher who posted photos of collapsed schools now released from labour camp
The President of the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe, who was illegally arrested and held incommunicado under appalling conditions, has now been released from prison.
Zimbabwean teacher trade unionist released from prison
According to the latest news on Farsi websites, the situation of Iranian teacher trade unionist Farzad Kamangar remains critical. Farzad is still alive, but facing the death sentence which has not yet been commuted. At present, he is in solitary confinement in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison in section 209, the...
Save Farzad: Your support is still urgently needed!
Iranians are using the internet to exercise their right to free expression as never before - despite strict prohibitions and severe penalties imposed by the authorities.
Iran: The internet fosters free expression
A teacher who published online photos of schools that collapsed due to the Sichuan earthquake has been ordered to serve one year of Reeducation-Through-Labour, according to Human Rights in China.
China: Teacher punished for photos of schools
The final deadline to apply for the Global Labour University programme at the University of Campinas in Brazil has been extended to September 20th.
Global Labour University, Campinas, Brazil: deadline extended to September 20th
On 25 February 2008, the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Farzad Kamangar to death on charges of "endangering national security" and "enmity against God" (moharebe). The death penalty was confirmed by the Supreme Court on 11 July.
Farzad Kamangar: sentenced to death after a five-minute trial
EI launched an urgent action appeal on 14 August in a bid to save Farzad Kamangar, a 33-year old teacher and former trade unionist from the Kurdistan Province of Iran, who is currently at risk of being executed following the ruling issued at an unfair trial.
EI launches urgent action appeal for Iranian teacher Farzad Kamangar
Three teachers who joined a committee in support of Farzad Kamangar have been imprisoned, and several other trade unionists who have been calling for re-examination of his case are now receiving threats and phone calls from the Ministry of Intelligence, which does not hesitate to call family members of activists...
Iran: Kamangar’s defenders suffer reprisals
EI has written to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to deplore that the Charities and Societies Proclamation, a draft law, is a covert means of placing civil society organisations under government control. EI joined Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International in their criticism of the proposed legislation.
Ethiopia: EI asks government to amend its draft bill on associations
On 30 June, the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) launched a national strike action to press the federal government to implement the promised Teachers’ Salary Structure.
Nigeria: EI expresses its support to the national strike action of Nigerian teachers
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is determined to help American educators create better opportunities for all children by improving education quality throughout the United States. He criticized the Bush administration for having failed to give teachers the means to achieve the goals of the No Child Left Behind Act, which...
US Democrats woo teachers' unions
Farzad Kamangar could face execution in the near future, according to the web site Human Rights Activists in Iran. On 11 July, the Iranian Supreme Court confirmed the death penalty against Kamangar, a 33-year-old Kurdish teacher and trade unionist.
Iranian court upholds death sentence against teacher trade unionist
EI echoes the call from Public Services International to free Meryem Özsögüt. A member of the executive committee of the Health Workers Trade Union (SES), Özsögüt has been in jail for the past six months for having done nothing more than attend a press conference to denounce the killing of...
EI supports campaign to free imprisoned Turkish trade unionist
The convicted murderer of Argentine teacher Carlos Fuentealba has been sentenced to life in prison by a court in Neuquén, the city in which he was killed during a peaceful teacher union demonstration last year.
Argentina: Murderer of teacher Carlos Fuentealba sentenced to life in prison
The national campaign of intimidation against human and trade union rights activists continues even after Robert Mugabe has been sworn in for another 5-year term. This follows an election process described by the African Union as "falling short of accepted AU standards."
Zimbabwe: Attacks on unionists continue after election
Late on 26 June, EI received a disturbing update from Gemoraw Kassa, General Secretary of the ETA, established in 1949 and EI Member, informing EI that the court of cassation at the Federal Supreme Court ruled against the original ETA, 26 June.
Ethiopia: The Federal Supreme Court rules against the original ETA