EI demands decent work and social dialogue for educators | WPN World People News

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.

Ensuring decent work in the education sector

Reacting to ‘sector’ being now one of the six ‘policy’ departments of the ILO, Holst said: “There is no doubt that a sectorial approach to the ILO’s work is effective in bringing decent work closer to workers. Each sector is different, and synergies with other ILO programmes are called for. At the same time the uniqueness of each sector must be part of finding the best solutions. Education is one of the largest sectors, and the ILO sectorial activities on conditions of work and labour rights for teachers concerns millions of workers. But education is not only about decent working conditions for teachers. Education is a ‘decent work’ strategy in itself as education will be a key post-2015 Development Goal.”

She also acknowledged that the ILO does important work on education in general, including combatting child labour through education; preparing tomorrow’s workforce through skills and training policies, promoting freedom of association and collective bargaining for public servants; promoting education rights for indigenous peoples; and focusing on specific areas such as early childhood education.

Guaranteeing social dialogue for quality education

She further underlined that EI is encouraged by the attention that the ILO Director General has placed on social dialogue in his report and by the discussions on collective bargaining in public services.

“We hope that this conference will come out with a renewed commitment by member states that fundamental rights such as freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, rights that lie at the heart of social dialogue, apply to teachers in both the public and private education sector.”

A well-functioning social dialogue is crucial to decent work, but it is also crucial to achieving quality education for all, Holst added. “Teachers should be key actors in both designing and implementing educational reform. That will only happen where there is respect and dialogue and where unions are acknowledged as the voice of teachers.”

Holst further denounced the fact that austerity packages are used to justify the revocation of collective agreements, wage freezes, as well as the increased use of short-term or temporary contracts. These forms of employment weaken the ability of workers to exercise their trade union rights and dissuade them from joining trade unions, by making them fearful of their employer, she stated.

Source: Education International