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 Japan Teachers' Union is active in development cooperation since the 1970s, when they supported South Korea in the fight against dictatorship. The union has a fund for international cooperation to which members voluntarily contribute.
JTU Japan: Education as the fundamental right of every child
SNES-FSU France has been using its own funds for several decades to help unions - mostly French-speaking - to become stronger.
SNES-FSU France: Supporting unions who are struggling because of political or economic circumstances
The work of the Canadian Teachers' Federation (CTF/FCE) in International development cooperation work started back in the sixties, when two volunteer teachers travelled to Nigeria.
CTF/FCE Canada: Cooperation projects that engage members
The Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ) answers questions about their development cooperation work, which started in the 1970s in Nicaragua.
CSQ's cooperation strategy: The Francophonie and Latin America as key priorities
In 2019, the Finnish education union OAJ decided to allocate 0.7% of its national budget to development cooperation, supporting its cooperation programmes that span several continents.
OAJ Finland international cooperation: Using own resources to ensure autonomy
Inspiring young educators to improve and develop trade union work in Fiji was the aim of a dedicated training event organised by the Council of Pacific Education (COPE) in October 2020.
Fiji: Young activists ready to take up the union torch
Education International has taken up an ambitious plan to renew its structure and adapt it to the strategic directions adopted at its last World Congress in Bangkok. Its new unit in charge of solidarity and capacity building has been set up to enhance Education International’s work in these areas, keeping...
New Capacity Building and Solidarity Unit gears up to build union power
Capacity building for young female teachers and increased female representation in union leadership are at the heart of training organised by the General Union of Palestinian Teachers (GUPT).
Palestine: Development cooperation programme builds capacity among female teachers and union members
Education International and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES, German acronym) are working together in Cameroon on a capacity building project, “Union renewal: building strong, inclusive, democratic and effective unions in the education sector in Cameroon”. The project involving all of Education International’s national member organisations will run from 2021 until...
Cameroon: Education organisations’ joint project for democracy and union renewal
Through the use of Education International’s COVID-19 solidarity fund, its two affiliates in Mauritania have been able to conduct a series of joint school visits to meet with teachers. The initiative has helped boost the unions’ image and membership levels.
Mauritania: unions working more closely with teachers to meet their needs
Rwandan education workers’ union SYPERWA organised a tour to meet teachers from private schools and help them solve the problems encountered. Thanks to Education International’s COVID-19 solidarity fund, the union has been able to map the issues for teachers affected by COVID-19, provide legal assistance to teachers suspended as a...
Rwanda: SYPERWA stands by teachers during the crisis
In light of the gaps in the information provided by the authorities on the dangers of COVID-19, Gabon’s education union SENA has launched a nationwide campaign to inform education workers and encourage them to organise.
Gabon: SENA supports teachers during COVID-19 crisis
The Online Union Academy [Académie Syndicale en Ligne, ASL] project set up by the Congo National Federation of Teachers and Social Educators (FENECO/UNTC) is part of the capacity-building activities of unions working in the education sector in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Primary, Secondary and Technical Education; Higher and University...
An online union academy made in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Education International’s Asia-Pacific office has launched new research “Union Renewal in the Education Sector: Prospects for the Asia-Pacific report”. This has provided an opportunity to reflect on the need for education unions to overcome challenges, embrace renewal, and seize opportunities offered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trade union renewal in Asia-Pacific to advance educators’ conditions and representation
With a new administration vowing to “build back better” from the public health, education, and economic crises of the Trump era, the two largest US educators’ unions, both Education International affiliates, have a shared agenda to ensure students and school communities receive the support they need for recovery and renewal.
USA: Education unions join forces to build back better education system
A study for the ETUCE, EI’s European region, showed the impact of market ideology and management practices and privatisation on industrial relations and social dialogue. In addition to looking at the evolution of EU policy in the past decade, researchers studied different methods and results of industrial relations in Francophone...
Europe: Study on industrial relations and privatisation
Currently, women and LGBTI people in Poland face a very difficult situation. However, it would be wrong and short-sighted to see attacks on women or LGBTI people as the problem of a single country or of one radically conservative government that seeks to establish an authoritarian regime. Poland is not...
"Today, solidarity with women is a fight for democracy”, by Sławomir Broniarz.
Deepening inequalities across the education sector were revealed at a recent Education International webinar. Affiliates shared experiences of working to improve the terms and working conditions of teachers, academics, and education support personnel. The webinar aimed to inform Education International’s work in this area during the current public health crisis.
COVID-19 impact continues to affect terms and conditions in education