European Trade Union Committee for Education

1st May 2017 marks the annual International Workers Day. This year, ETUCE joins the celebration of workers throughout the world, and takes the time to reflect on the daily struggles of European education workers, whose commitment to ensuring quality education for all students – a fundamental right, and a pathway towards fostering equality in society - is halted by external constraints.

This past year, ETUCE, representing  131 Education Trade Unions and 11 million teachers in all countries of Europe, has taken note and action against worrying, and at times, unacceptable developments in the education sector in the region, from the prolonged oppression endured by Turkish academics – whose duress was personally witnessed by a special ETUCE delegation in February 2017, to the Moldovan’s government’s refusal of engaging in social dialogue to address the poor wages and working conditions of the country’s education workers.

In addition to these appalling and extreme examples of breaches of human and union rights, ETUCE also notes and denounces the smothering of the education sector through the generalised decrease of public funding throughout Europe, which has resulted in salary cuts and freezes, deteriorating working conditions and increasing work-related stress at work. Moreover, social dialogue and collective bargaining have been undermined by increasing unilateral decision-making by governments, in the face of more immediate economic concerns.

“At the occasion of the International Workers’ Day, it is our duty to demand an urgent reassessments of public funding for ensuring appropriate working conditions for all education personnel”, said ETUCE European Director, Susan Flocken. Stating the importance of international solidarity of the working people across all Europe and all sectors, she also affirmed that “daily, ETUCE, as the European Region of Education International, is on the front line to support education trade unions struggling for the restoration of social dialogue and collective bargaining across Europe, as the only way to ensure that the working conditions and professional status of teachers and educators are recognised”. This view is in line with the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC)’s Pay Rise Campaign, advocating for the increase of wages for European Workers. Generalised pay rises represent a chance to drive economic growth while putting a halt to the effects of fiscal consolidation policies that cripple European economies. ETUCE supports the initiative, and believes that this years’ International Workers’ Day is the occasion for governments and policy-makers to take a stance towards the recognition of the essential value of work, notably through the ensuring fair and decent wages.

To know more about the Pay Rise Campaign, click here.