Ei-iE

28 August marks the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. It was during this March that American activist Martin Luther King delivered his iconic ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, calling for an end to racism in the US.

EI’s national affiliates, the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU), the South Africa National Professional Teachers’ Organisation (NAPTOSA), and the Suid-Afrikaanse Onderwysersunie(SAOU), joined by the Professional Educators Union and the National Teachers’ Union, have taken the fight to reinstate a collective agreement to court. The agreement, signed between teacher unions...

EI organised a workshop enabling representatives of 16 member organisations in the Pacific to campaign for the promotion of trade union rights in the region. The workshop was hosted in Fiji on 19-22 August with the support of the Workers Group of the International Labour Organisation (ILO-ACTRAV).

An EI delegation is attending regional meetings on labour standards in Fiji. EI representatives are holding talks with teachers' representatives from the Fijian Teachers' Association and the Fiji Teacher Union who deplored the clampdown on union rights since the 2006 coup.

Two of EI’s affiliates, the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) and the National Union of Teachers (NUT), have criticised a survey released by the UK polling organisation, Populus.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), one of EI’s affiliates in the country, has informed EI that the teachers’ national strike which started on 25 June was called off on 17 July. The education union urged teachers to report back to their schools the next day. Unfortunately, however, the...

EI is relieved to learn that the death sentence imposed on Iranian teacher Abdolreza Ghanbari has been reduced to 15 years’ detention and exile by the Tehran Revolutionary Court.

Education International strongly condemns the killing of Mohamed Brahmi, a secular Tunisian political leader. An outspoken critic of the Government who represented the Front Populaire in the Tunisian Parliament, Mohamed Brahmi was shot down in front of his home in Tunis on 25 July.

EI organised national training and awareness workshops on the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burkina Faso.

One of EI’s national affiliates, the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (ZIMTA), and children’s rights activists have criticised the use of schools as political campaign venues, pointing out that it contravenes the national Constitution.

Leadership skills and union finances were the focus of a three-day workshoporganised by EI for 15 members of one of its Malaysian affiliates, the Sabah Teachers Union (STU-Sabah). It was held from 7-9 July in Kota Kinabalu.

On 18 July, EI marks International Nelson Mandela Day. The day honours Mandela’s life-long dedication to social justice, and urges people to take small actions to improve their communities and change the world. This year's Nelson Mandela International Day will focus on shelter, literacy and food security.

EI has condemned the killing of 29 students and a teacher and the burning down of the Mamudo boarding school in Nigeria's north-eastern state of Yobe by suspected Islamist extremists.

The NASUWT and the NUT, two of EI’s national affiliates in the UK, are taking joint action as part of their campaign to protect teachers and education. The educators’ unions are in dispute with the Government over teachers’ pay, pensions and working conditions. Tens of thousands of teachers in the...

Teacher unionists in the US organised a protest in front of the Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C. The move was in support of the South Korean education support workers union (KPTU-EdSol). A massive rally is planned for 22 June, in which tens of thousands of Korean workers are expected to...

EI and the Global Unions have expressed their unreserved support to the international solidarity actions to be held on 21-22 June to defend fundamental human rights and democracy in Turkey.

EI Deputy General Secretary Haldis Holst, in a speech to the International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on 13 June, urged the ILO to guarantee decent work and social dialogue for teachers worldwide. She highlighted that this would contribute achieving quality education for all.