Ei-iE

The EI Pan-European Committee and the ETUCE Executive Board are meeting in Brussels, Belgium from 30-31 October. An item featured high on the list of the agenda of this meeting is the forthcoming EI Pan-European Conference to be held in Luxemburg from 4-6 December.

Below is the speech made by EI General Secretary and Chair of the Conference of the Global Union Federations at the 19th Congress of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) which is currently being held in Vienna, Austria.

Following the dissolution of the World Confederation of Labour (WCL) and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) on 31 October, a new trade union international, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) will be born on 1 November in Vienna, Austria!

The EI Executive Board met in Brussels, Belgium, from 25-27 October and several decisions regarding the various working areas and policies of the organisation as well as the forthcoming 2007 World Congress were made.

EI is glad that the struggles of teachers in Honduras since August are finally producing positive results. In the recent negotiations with the government, the teachers have managed to obtain the latter's agreement to implement most of the 17 points listed in the Statute on Teaching Personnel.

In this issue, EI explains how the continuing deadlock of the Doha Round of WTO talks is prompting the shift in focus to bilateral and regional agreements, and warns of the potential impact this might have on education services.

On 21 October, 220,000 people participated in a nation-wide demonstration in Germany for more social justice. About 80,000 people gathered at the Brandenburg Gates in Berlin and 20,000 at the Römerberg in Frankfurt am Main to protest against the socially-divisive "Reform politics" of the federal government led by Chancellor Angela...

EI member organisation, the Korean Federation of Teachers' Association (KFTA) signed an agreement on 20 September to join the national support network for youths in danger.

For the fifth year in a row, EI member organisations the Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations (KFTA) and the Japanese Teacher Union (NIKKYOSO), jointly held a three-day seminar on peace education together with the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) on 8 October.

The latest major report released today in New York sounds an appropriate alarm bell for the international community.

The promotion of peace, democracy, social justice and equality for all peoples and in all nations is at the core of Education International's mandate. The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, celebrated on 17 October, is thus a good opportunity for EI and its member organisations to highlight the...

A two-day strike will be held from 17-18 October by education workers from all over Portugal to protest against the lack of negotiation in the forthcoming reform of teachers' career and working conditions.

Members of EI affiliate the Didaskalikeh Omospondia Elladas (DOE) - the Greek Primary Teachers' Federation initiated a strike action on 18 September this year after several demonstrations in the capital Athens. Pre-primary and primary school teachers in the country are demanding an increase of their minimum wage from 950 to...

EI stands in solidarity with its member organisations and supports the Hungarian teachers' opposition to a recent amendment to the Act of Public Education.

By the end of September this year, teachers and children in the tsunami-hit areas of Indonesia in the Aceh province have access to 8 brand new fully-furnished and well-equipped elementary schools built under the EI-Novib Tsunami Rehabilitation Programme. And there will be 20 more to come.

"All of us at Education International wish to extend our deepest sympathies to Katarina’s family, friends and colleagues around the world," said General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen.

To mark World Teachers' Day, EI submitted a major report to the Committee of Experts on the Application of the ILO/UNESCO Recommondations (CEART) concerning the Status of Teachers.

Education International has joined the campaign to endorse the deployment of a meaningful UN peacekeeping force in Darfur, urging the Sudanese Government to accept the presence of the United Nations peacekeeping force when the mandate of the African Union peacekeeping force comes to an end.