Ei-iE

The EI European region, the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE), has joined the large Regulate Global Finance Now! campaign. This campaign comprises five sub-campaigns: “A financial transaction tax, now!”, “Credit Rating Agencies”, “Stop food speculation! Now!”, “Managing future crises”, and “Bonus watch!”

In a statement released on 22 June, the EI Regional Committee for Latin America called on EI affiliates to stand in solidarity with the democratically elected government in Paraguay and its people and to express their strong condemnation of the unlawful deposition of Paraguay´s President.

For the first time in its history, the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ), EI's largest member union in Quebec, elected a nurse, Ms Louise Chabot, as its President. Ms. Chabot succeeds Mr Réjean Parent, who led the organisation since 2003.

Representatives of 19 EI member organisations from Southern Africa, meeting in Johannesburg, condemned in the strongest terms the actions of the Swaziland Government in brutally attacking strikers and imprisoning many of them.

The Cambodian Independent Teachers’ Association (CITA), one of EI’s national affiliate, has condemned the fact that the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU) has again been denied formal government recognition as a trade union confederation. Made up of seven unions and associations, the CCU represents more than 90,000 workers nationwide.

The Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) has decided to contravene a court decision and instead go on an open-ended strike over demands for a 4.5 per cent salary increase. The SNAT, an EI affiliate, is extending a two-day action held on 13-14 June, in which over 6,000 teachers participated.

EI welcomes a recent BBC show featuring the Association of Teachers and Lecturers’ (ATL) General Secretary Mary Bousted and Michelle Rhee, a former chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools. It allowed one of the UK’s top education trade unionists to reassert what quality teachers and teacher assessment mean.

Education unions in the United States (US) have cautiously welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision on 25 June to block elements of Arizona’s anti-immigration law.

The head office of E?itim Sen, EI’s Turkish affiliate, was raided by police in Ankara early morning on 25 June, as well as the Confederation of Public Employees (KESK)’s offices. Nearly 70 unionists had their houses searched by the police and were taken into custody, including three E?itim Sen Executive...

EI’s national affiliates in the UK, the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), have called on the Government to provide teachers with quality training and decent working conditions.

Two big rallies were organised during the Earth Summit, Rio+20, gathering of world political leaders: the “World March of Women” against the “false green economy”, and the March of the “Peoples' Summit” on 20 June, convened by the CUT, the main Brazilian trade union centre in Brazil. EI was represented...

On 23 June, World Public Services Day, EI is joining the global trade union federation, Public Services International (PSI), in celebrating and promoting quality public services worldwide. Public services, including education, are key to building civil societies where people work together for the benefit of the whole community.

The action taken by KNUT to prevent the recruitment of teachers on contract not only ensured that education is protected against the shocks of economy which could lead to cuts directed at the education sector but also set the trend for continued recruitment of qualified teachers in Kenya. It also...

EI European Region, the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE), has joined a signature campaign promoting a financial transaction tax (FTT) at EU level. This campaign aims at exerting pressure on EU member countries’ finance ministers who will hold a policy debate on the EU Commission proposal on 22...

EI supports the shift in language in the G20 Los Cabos Declaration from austerity to jobs, which is going in the right direction. But it warns that, unless there is coordinated action from G20 leaders, words will not be translated into the investment necessary to get people back to work.

The Teachers’ Association of the Republic of Indonesia (PGRI), one of EI’s national affiliates, has agreed to a government proposal for the assessment of teachers under certain conditions. The trade union stressed that teachers’ salaries should not, in any way, be linked to the assessment outcomes.

The Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) has challenged the South Korean Government to eliminate Korean Standardised Testing. The KTU, an EI affiliate, argues that the measurement of a teacher’s worth should not rely on standardised testing.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde considers it a disgrace that multinational companies use their global reach to exploit loopholes and off shore tax havens to avoid paying taxes.