European Trade Union Committee for Education

The EU MIDIS-II Report, based on information collected from over 25,500 respondents, was released in the context of marking seventeen years since the adoption of EU laws which forbid discrimination. However, the research shows that widespread discrimination still exists across Europe, particularly for immigrants and ethnic minorities searching for employment. The FRA itself describes discrimination as a “recurring experience” for many across all 28 EU Member States.

The report points to a serious problem regarding workplace discrimination. Only 12% of respondents who felt they had suffered from discrimination have reported the most recent incident. 36% of these reports of discrimination were made to employers and only 13% of respondents who have suffered from workplace discrimination reported this to a trade union. Whilst satisfaction with actions taken after workplace discrimination remains low, respondents were slightly more satisfied with the response from trade unions (average of 2.5 on a scale of 1 to 4) compared to employers (average of 2.2 on the same scale).

In regards to education and the teaching profession, the report notes that more action is needed to improve the participation of ethnic minority children and the children of immigrants in early childhood education. To help ensure this, the FRA recommend in the report that Member States ensure that non-native speakers are given free general and job-related language training as well as promoting the recruitment of teachers from ethnic minority or immigrant backgrounds and providing teachers with training on diversity and non-discrimination.

Whilst ETUCE is concerned by the continuing levels of discrimination across Europe, the role of trade unions, teachers and other education personnel in combatting discrimination should be recognised by consulting them on how these issues can be addressed within the education system and the workplace. ETUCE passed a resolution at its conference in 2016 on “Promoting Education as the Key to Integration and Inclusion”, which acknowledged that “Education institutions, school communities, education personnel and education trade unions play a major role in helping all displaced people see their human rights and dignity fully respected” and that “Education personnel are at the forefront of integration policies”.

ETUCE reaffirms its commitment to supporting efforts to combat the discrimination towards and harassment of immigrants and ethnic minorities within schools, the workplace and wider society.

To read the full EU MIDIS-II Report, click here.