Workers
Out!
Sydney,
Australia- Join the EI conference delegation to the Second World Conference
of Lesbian and Gay Trade Unionists to be held on 31 October- 2 November
2002, as part of the Global Rights Gay Games 2002 Conference Programme.
Workers Out! will bring together trade unionists, lesbian, gay and
transgender worker activists and key human rights organisations activists
from around the world to develop strategies to deal with sexuality
discrimination in the workplace. For more information on participating
in EI activities at the conference, e-mail Rebecca Sevilla at rebecca.sevilla@ei-ie.org
- let us know who is coming! Rebecca has joined the EI secretariat
to work on concerns of Lesbian and Gay educators among other issues.
Please keep her informed about your activities related to discrimination
based on sexual orientation.
Workers
Out!
c/o Labour Council of NSW
Level 10 377 Sussex Street
Sydney 2000. Australia.
Email: workersout@labor.org.au
Website: www.workersout.com
Scholarship deadline: May 30, 2002 (http://www.workersout.com/scholarships.htm)
EI
to Attend OECD/GATS Meetings
EI will
represent teachers at two events convened by the OECD in May which
will have major political significance for education.
The first will be the OECD Forum 2002, to be held in Paris, 12-14
May, at the same time as the Annual Meeting of the Ministerial Council.
For the first time, this event will highlight education. EI Deputy
General Secretary will be among the TUAC delegation.
The OECD/US Washington
Forum will focus on the current state of the GATS negotiations on
education and training services, and their implications for educational
providers and national education systems. Three countries - the USA,
Australia and New Zealand - have presented proposals to WTO for liberalization
though GATS of trade in educational services, with particular focus
on higher education and vocational training. EI will be represented
through a delegation composed of EI President Mary Futrell, GEW's
Gerd Kohler and EI Deputy General Secretary Elie Jouen.
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
New York, USA:
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues will hold its first session from
13 - 24 May 2002. UN Economic and Social Council resolution 2000/22
establishes the Permanent Forum to serve as an advisory body to the
Council, with a mandate to discuss indigenous issues relating to economic
and social development, culture, environment, education, health and
human rights. Indigenous peoples and NGOs in consultative status with
the Economic and Social Council are invited to participate. EI plans
to attend and contribute to this historic session, in accordance with
EI Congress resolutions on the rights of Indigenous Peoples (1998,1995).
http://www.unhchr.ch/indigenous/forum
EI Provides a Dialogue Forum
Istanbul, Turkey-
Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, EI announced that
it would take the initiative to intensify dialogue among EI member
organisations on the different cultures, faiths and attitudes represented
within the international teachers’ movement. In the first step to
creating that dialogue, EI hosted a round table on the theme ‘Seeking
a Dialogue in the New International Context’. Despite being under
constant surveillance from the Turkish police, the workshop created
a forum in which topics and issues were addressed constructively,
often for the first time. The workshop drew participants from 25 unions
from 20 countries, including EI’s two newest member organisations
- the Kuwait Teachers Society and Kazakhstan National Trade Union
of Teachers and Science Workers. On April 15, the workshop opened
to a crowed room of journalists. Participants heard a welcoming address
from Aladdin Dinçer, Egitim-Sen President. The packed schedule included
enriching discussion on Economic and Social Development and International
Understanding; Education, Religion and Political Parties; International
Trade Union Movement and Conflicts of Civilisation. In his closing
address, EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuven said, “This is not
the end of the dialogue. We have started something important here.”
EI has scheduled another conference on the theme Learning and Living
Together in October.
Assassination
of Colombian Trade Unionists Continue
On 12 April 2002,
Hernan De Jesús Ortiz, a teacher and member of the Executive Committee
of the Colombian teachers union (FECODE) and Jose Obeiro Pineda, ex-leader
of the Electricity Industry Workers Union of Colombia, were ASSASSINATED.
This political, anti-union murder was carried out by the paramilitary
groups that operate in the region of Caldas. The two leaders were
dining together in a restaurant in Aranzazú Municipality, in Caldas
Department. At approximately 8.00 pm., they were interrupted by a
group of armed men who arrived in a van. Defenceless, the attack left
them dead.
Last year, 184
trade unionist were killed in Colombia. Repeatedly, the Interior Minister
has received reports of the continuing danger to trade union leaders
and the need for increased protection for leaders who have been declared
targets by the by the paramilitary groups.
Sadly, Ortiz was
not the first victim this year:
January 8, teacher Carlos Alberto Bastidas Coral was assassinated.
Feb. 2, teacher Gloria Eudilia Riveros Rodriguez was assassinated.
Feb. 4, teacher Oscar Jaime Delgado Valencia was killed by being shot
in the head in front of his pupils.
Feb. 12, teacher Angela María Rodríguez Jaimes was dragged from school
grounds before being shot to death.
March 22, teacher Ernesto Alfonso Giraldo Martinez, who was seriously
wounded by a gunshot, was pulled from the ambulance and "finished-off"
as he lay on the stretcher.
March 23, teacher José Orlando Céspedes García was abducted. His whereabouts
are still unknown.
At its March meeting, the EI Executive Board recommended that EI member
organisations write to the Government of Colombia urging it to implement
additional measures to protect teachers and education personnel and
to bring to justice those responsible for the murder, disappearance,
threats and harassment of FECODE members
Contributions to help FECODE assist internally displaced teachers
may be transferred directly to EI's Solidarity Fund at account 310-1006170-75
Banque Bruxelles Lambert, 157 bd Anspach, 1000 Brussels, Belgium.
United Nations General Assembly Special Session
on Children
New York, USA-
The Special Session will be one of the top five most attended special
sessions in U.N. history. It will serve as a follow-up to the 1990
World Summit for Children.74 heads of state have confirmed their attendance
at the May Special Session on Children.
The Special Session seeks to review the progress made on children’s
rights since the 1990 World Summit for Children. The main outcome
of the Special Session is expected to be a declaration and plan of
action, tentatively titled “A World Fit for Children”, which aims
to build on the achievements of the 1990 Summit and to update the
global agenda.
Adopted by the government delegates at the January-February 2001 Preparatory
Committees, the draft declaration seeks to create a “child-friendly
world” by promoting a set of 10 principles designed to reaffirm the
commitments made at the 1990 Summit and to mobilize a “global movement
for children” that will put them “first” in all national and international
plans.
Among these principles
are: ending all forms of discrimination; ensuring free, basic, compulsory
education for all; protecting children from war; stopping the exploitation
of children; fighting poverty; protecting the environment for future
generations; and listening to children more carefully.
EI’s concerns will be voiced at a panel session focusing on Improving
the Quality Education. This event organised by UNICEF is part of the
series of Best Practices Side Events to be held at UN Headquarters
in New York during the UN Special Session on Children from 8 to 10
May 2002. EI Deputy General Secretary Elie Jouen will be a member
of the panel, together with UNICEF, the Global Campaign for Education,
USAID and AVSI (Association for Volunteers in International Service).
EI, as a leading
member of the Global Campaign for Education, is helping the Global
March Against Child Labour to organise the March for the Children’s
Rights on 8 May following the first day of UNGASS.
EI, together with AFT and NEA, hopes to mobilize thousands teachers
in the area to demonstrate their commitment to protecting children’s
rights.
Pay Equity
EI is preparing
resource material to focus on identifying and resolving pay differences
between women and men education workers and teachers. We would like
an example of a problem your union has identified, or a short case
study on how your union fixed a problem on this issue.
The resource
document we are preparing will give ideas and examples on: analysing
pay and benefit packages in workplaces; union case studies of pay
problems and successful resolution of them; give practical ideas for
on going action.
The aim is to
prepare an advocacy resource for activists and members of negotiating
teams.
We will give attention
to the application of benefits. For example, do women have fair access
to housing or funeral benefits? We are interested in the criteria
of eligibility for pay levels and benefits. For example what is the
impact of qualification levels or length of service etc?
Please limit
your report to 200 words. The piece will be used in EI material to
illustrate how unions are working to end pay inequality. The deadline
for submitting reports is 30 June 2002.
Please confirm your participation as soon as possible to lynn.middleton@ei-ie.org.
Please send the completed reports to EI Brussels Office or e-mail
them to the above address.
EI/AOb Training Seminar in Kosovo
Breznovica, Kosovo:
The second in a series of seminars was held with the newly formed
Serbian Education Union of Kosovo (SOK). The groundbreaking seminar
was UNMIK’s, the United Nations administration in Kosovo, first official
contact with the SOK. The topics dealt with in the seminar were analysis
of the current situation, role of UNMIK, and establishing priorities
and developing trade union strategies.
EI, together
with Dutch (AOb), German (GEW) and English (NUT) member organisations,
has helped the Serbian teachers to form a union.
The education
sector in the Serbian enclaves in Kosovo faces many problems. There
is an excess of teachers because many school age children remain in
exile. Since there is no pension system currently in effect, teachers
continue to postpone retirement. Teacher training is needed to help
teachers cope with education reform. Salaries are low, school conditions
poor and teachers and students have armed escorts to and from school
in some of the communities. Following this seminar on 1-2 March, further
work with SOK will focus on leadership training at different levels
of the union.
International
Child Labour Conference
The Hague,
Netherlands: A three-day international conference
on child labour in The Hague drew 300 experts from 50 countries to
discuss one of the worst forms of child labour- hazardous work. The
Conference produced a plan outlining the steps that need to be taken
for the implementation of ILO Conventions 138 and 182. The first item
in the statement calls for the provision of universal, free, basic
education. The Dutch Minister for Development announced that she will
provide IPEC with E 2.5 million to identify good educational practice
that helps in the elimination of child labour.
EI was invited
to make a presentation on the links between education and child labour
and to outline the policies and measures required to ensure successful
integration of child labourers into education systems, as well as
to chair a session on building community alliances to end child labour.
The Dutch government sponsored the Conference held on 25-27 February.
The Director
General of the ILO called for the beginning of a movement to have
child prostitution and the use of children as soldiers to be declared
as crimes against humanity.
Reasserting
the Global Academic Community
Montreal, Canada
- EI’s third Higher Education and Research Conference, opened by EI
President Mary Futrell, focused on the impact of commercialisation
on the education sector. The participants discussed a proposal for
a code of ethics for researchers as well as guidelines for transnational
higher education. The conference also addressed the changing role
of the professoriate in post-secondary education. Representatives
of UNESCO, ILO and the World Bank also attended the meeting.
The Higher Education
sector within EI continues to grow. Participants from 37 unions in
27 countries with 900,000 members attended the conference, held on
14-16 March, including the USA, New Zealand, India and Egypt.
This steady growth
is a tribute to EI and the sector’s perception of EI’s relevance to
the needs of Higher Education and Research, and enables EI to speak
authoritatively as the voice of the sector.
The conference
issued a public statement condemning the Canadian government’s discriminatory
treatment of participants from African countries by refusing visas
to participate in the conference.
EI’s Regional Committee of Latin America
Sao
Paulo, Brazil - EI’s Regional Committee
for Latin America (RCLA) meeting discussed a broad agenda, including
evaluation of the 3rd World Congress and the deteriorating situation
in Argentina. Also addressed was the way in which governments are
exploiting the war against terrorism to silence opposition and suppress
trade unions and civil society organisations. In Chile, groups that
have mobilised civil society on indigenous rights issues for many
years are suddenly being referred to as terrorists. The same is happening
in Brazil, while in Peru, EI member organisation SUTEP has been accused
of “promoting terror through education”.
From March 22-
24, the RCLA also analysed and approved the Regional Plan for the
period 2002- 2004. The Regional Office submitted a report about the
current activities undertaken. The meeting also discussed the theme
of the Porto Alegre World Social Forum and the World Forum on Education
(WFE). RCLA expressed concern that EI was not represented at WFE held
in January of this year. The committee offered its support for the
trade union and professional training project managed by EI and FE.CC.OO
to be carried out in South America.
José Antonio Zepeda
was integrated as a member of the RCLA, while Ernestina Suarez, from
FEDMYFED Uruguay, resigned.
Asia Pacific Regional Committee (EIAPR) Meeting
Tokyo,
Japan - Mr. Nagakazu Sakakibara, Chairperson
of the Japanese affiliate JTU and of the EI Asia Pacific Regional
Committee opened the regional committee meeting on 5-6 March by commenting,
“Education is able to harness human peace and co-existence. For this,
EI and its work through the Global Campaign for Education on the Dakar
Framework to achieve Education For All, has an important role to play.”
The committee
discussed the EI/Lararforbundet Sweden mission to East Timor in the
next couple of months, in support of the East Timor Teachers’ Union
by providing teacher training and equipment to destroyed schools.
Also set to continue is assistance to the Mongolian Enlightenment
Federation of Teachers’ Unionin the democratisation process. This
assistance is organised in co-operation with CTF Canada and NTU Norway
The committee
is urging member organisations to establish a Women’s Network in the
North East Asia sub-region (China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Mongolia,
Taiwan) following the reports that the Network Activities in the South
Pacific, ASEAN and South Asian sub-regions have helped to increase
women’s participation in union activities and leadership.
During the meeting,
the Committee resolved to support the Japanese TUC-RENGO’s complaint
against the government of Japan for violation of freedom of association
with the ILO.
Caribbean teachers
Round Table
Anguilla - Education
International (EI) in co-operation with the Caribbean Union of Teachers
(CUT) hosted a very successful Round Table on “Teachers’ Conditions
of Service: Relevance to Quality Education in the Caribbean.” from
April 24 -27, 2002.
During the 3-day
meeting a number of recommendations were tabled and will be put forward
in a proposal to the various education ministries across the Caribbean.
Recommendations called for improvements in professional development,
remuneration, teacher migration/teacher supply, teacher evaluation/
appraisal and health and safety.
•
TOP
Playing
Fair at the FIFA World Cup
Football and other sports are based on the principle
of 'fair play'. Fair play should however not only be limited to the
players on the football fields but also include the producers of sporting
goods. Unfortunately thousands of children can still be found working
in the football industry, in the production of sporting clothes, shoes
and soccer balls. Adults are often denied a living wage and other
basic labour rights. This is far from being fair!
The 2002 FIFA World Cup Football Championship in Japan
and Korea is the perfect occasion to make sure that all the promises
made by FIFA and the sporting goods industry over the past years,
about not using child labour and ensuring fair labour conditions for
adults, will finally become a reality.
Join
the Global March Against Child Labour petition: http://www.globalmarch.org/world-cup-campaign
Child Labour in Agriculture Web Site Now On-Line
The
AFL-CIO Solidarity Center, in co-operation with the American Federation
of Teachers, is proud to announce this new child labour web site -
www.fieldsofhope.org
Teachers,
students, and others interested in child labour issues can go to www.fieldsofhope.org
and find out what it’s like for a child to work in the agricultural
sector. The easy to navigate web site has information on child labour
around the world, a quiz to test your knowledge about the problems
of child labour, a video flash on a day in the life of child labourers,
and a message center to share information and experiences with other
users of the web site. In addition, there is an extensive resource
section and a teacher’s guide to help integrate the web site into
a classroom discussion.
While
the web site is geared for use by students of middle school age and
older, it contains up-to-date information relevant to anyone working
in the field of child labour issues.
NEWS FROM MEMBERS
Minor
Improvements in Cambodia
“Government
Begins Distributing Back Pay to Teachers” reads a headline in the
Cambodia Daily.
CITA,
the EI Cambodian affiliate, forwarded the newspaper article to EI
along with a letter of thanks. The article states that the government
of Cambodia has finally started distributing back pay to regular teachers.
However, the situation for the 1997-contract teachers woefully remains
unchanged. Fred van Leeuwen, EI General Secretary, is quoted as a
contributor to the successful urging of government authorities to
meet with CITA and settle salary arrears immediately.
After
being informed by CITA that Cambodian teachers have not been paid
for almost five months and the non-payment of contract teachers for
more then a year, EI issued an Urgent Action Appeal and began a pressure
campaign against the Cambodian government. For more information on
the situation, including the full text of EI Resolutions and Urgent
Action Appeals, please check the EI web site at www.ei-ie.org
Kyrgyzstan
Among
the teachers’ organisations in the five Central Asian States, the
Kyrgyzstan Teachers and Scientific Workers Union, which represents
+162,000 teachers became a member of EI last year.
EI was invited to attend the Congress of KTSWU. EI organised two leadership
seminars in Bishkek on effectively addressing the teachers’ concerns,
and assisting in its translation into a more democratic union. The
representatives of the KTSWU attended the EI World Congress.
EI
in co-operation with UNESCO is organising a three-day seminar for
all the five teachers’ organisations in the Central Asian States in
Almate, Kazakhstan on “Education For All and Global Campaign for Education”
at the end of June 2002.
Indonesia
Under
the international financial institutions’ guidelines, the Indonesian
government started decentralising the public sector including education.
The process has been marred with obstacles due to poor co-ordination
between the National and Provincial governments. Teachers in many
provinces were not paid on time. The teachers at district level went
on strike.
“Teachers should be secured physically and financially in transferring
knowledge to students,” said PGRI chairman W.D.F. Rindorindo at a
seminar launching the national campaign Education for All. In reaction,
the Minister of National Education Abdul Malik Fajar criticized the
country’s teachers for demanding that the government issue rulings
that would help improve their welfare.
According to PGRI, most teachers throughout the country receive unreasonably
low salaries. “Some kindergarten teachers in remote areas get paid
Rp 50,000 (about US$5) per month”. However, Malik emphasized that
becoming a teacher was a profession inspired by idealism, and that
could not be expressed in monetary terms.
Uganda
Ugandan
government has given more money to education and health than defence
for the first time in many years, states a World Bank report. The
report titled The Budget and Medium -Term Expenditure Framework in
Uganda says that the combined share of education and health rose to
32.4% of total spending in 1999/2000, and is budgeted to rise to 36.7%
by 2002/2003.
Iran
The
teachers in the Islamic Republic of Iran between mid-January to the
end of January 2002 demonstrated and organised sit-ins in Tehran and
other cities demanding better salaries, better working conditions,
the right to form independent unions for teachers and denouncing the
lack of rights. The police in the midst of clashes arrested a number
of demonstrating teachers.
Education
International expressed its solidarity with the Iranian teachers in
the defence of their fundamental rights. In a letter to President
Khatami, the EI General Secretary stated that in a model Islamic society
the role of education and educators is of the utmost importance and
Iran as a signatory to the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights must recognise the right of everyone to the enjoyment
of just and favourable conditions of work, the right of everyone to
form trade unions and join the trade unions of his or her choice,
the right of trade unions to function freely and the right to strike.
