Mahdi Abu Dheeb, the leader of the Bahrain Teachers Association (BTA) was freed on 5th April 2016 from a Bahraini jail after serving five years. He was jailed by a military court in 2011, accused of inciting social unrest, but his and the BTA’s real crime was that they campaigned for the rights of teachers…
Last Friday, the Iraqi Teachers Union (ITU) openly endorsed the actions of students and teachers across Iraq (known as the ‘White Shirts Revolution’) who are standing up for justice, fair pay and the provision of basic services; against ISIS terrorism and institutionalised political and financial corruption. They are also calling for the improvement of education from primary, secondary…
This Easter, the NASUWT 2016 International Solidarity Award went to the Turkish teachers’ trade union Egitim Sen, for its bravery in standing up for justice, democracy, labour and trade union rights and for the right to quality public education despite Turkish government attempts to crush the union. Egitim Sen has shown courage and resolve, and has…
Seventeen education unions and associations representing sixteen Arab countries from the Middle East and North Africa met on 7-8 October in Beirut in Lebanon to establish a new Arab teachers’ trade union structure that is concerned with the promotion and advancing of quality education and professional status. It is also dedicated to an end to all forms of conflict and…
Iraq has finally issued a labour law that complies with ILO conventions, up to a point. It is a good day for global justice. The law provides legal protection for organised workers in the private and cooperative sector against unethical practices of local and foreign employers. It provides collective bargaining and it provides workers with…
Turkish liberal democracy is under assault from those supposed to uphold and protect it. Ordinary, law-abiding trade unionists are being penalised and violently attacked for legitimate and peaceful trade union activities.
Today is the tenth anniversary of martyrdom of Hadi Saleh, international officer of the Iraqi trade union movement and my close friend. The union centre he represented, now known as the GFITU, is holding a memorial event today in central Baghdad to remember Hadi as trade union leader, as a peace and democracy campaigner and…