A practical guide for unions defending their rights

Education International trade union rights manual (pdf 1.5MB)

Education International has put together this manual to provide basic information to member organizations about their rights and on ways to convince states to implement  trade union rights for teacher organizations and to spread best practices.

Education International is the world’s largest global union federation. It is the voice of 30 million teachers and education workers from early childhood to tertiary education. Education International’s 401 member organizations operate in 172 countries and territories, including the TEU working here in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Trade union rights are human rights and are considered as such and protected by human rights treaties. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Appendix A), the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, and other agreements cover freedom of assembly and of association, workers’ rights to collective bargaining and action, and workers’ rights to information and consultation. Through such international and regional instruments, states have committed themselves to ensuring that trade union rights can be exercised. In such initiatives, a free and vibrant trade union movement has come to be recognized as a pillar of democracy and an indicator of a nation’s progressive development.