InternationalSolidaritywww.nasuwt.org.uk/international

Summer 2018

NASUWTThe Teachers’ Union

Annual Conference issue:NASUWT International Solidarity Award Iranian union leader on hunger strike recognised

David Edwards EI head chooses Conference for first major speech

Schools on the FrontlineDelegates hear of political violence in Zimbabwe

A member of

Countries across the world have adopted a set ofgoals to end poverty, protect the planet and ensureprosperity for all as part of a new sustainabledevelopment agenda. Each goal has specific targetsto be achieved over the next 15 years.

For the goals to be reached, everyone needs to dotheir part: governments, the private sector, civilsociety and individuals.

To find out what you can do, visitwww.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/takeaction.

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Contents

Hillscourt Education Centre

Rose Hill, Rednal,

Birmingham B45 8RS

Telephone: 03330 145550

Email: ben.padley@mail.nasuwt.org.uk

Website: www.nasuwt.org.uk

NASUWTThe Teachers’ Union

6Jailed teacher Esmail Abdi, currently on hunger strike, was this

year’s recipient of the NASUWT International Solidarity Award

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David Edwards, General Secretary of EI, said

NASUWT members had ‘solidarity in their core’

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Teachers are being attacked as political

violence continues in Zimbabwe, PTUZ

President Dr Takavafira Zhou told members

NASUWT shapes international education

debate with global trade union leaders

“YOU HAVE SOLIDARITYIN YOUR CORE”

NASUWT delegates told

Delegates at the NASUWT’s Annual Conference were toldthey were “the last best hope on the planet” in continuingto provide high-quality, free education to their pupils.

David Edwards, General Secretary of EducationInternational, said that the values and ideas of the NASUWT,along with other education unions, were crucial in a rapidlychanging world.

Teachers and trade unions had to “absolutely defend” theircore values, often in the face of threats from governmentsand also multinational corporations, Mr Edwards said.

The former High School languages teacher fromPennsylvania had chosen the NASUWT Conference as thesetting for his first major international speech sincebecoming General Secretary in March.

Education International (EI) is the federation of 32.5 millionteachers and other education staff affiliated with educationunions and associations, including the NASUWT, in 173countries across the globe.

In an inspiring and confident message to a packedconference hall in Birmingham, Mr Edwards told hisaudience they had “solidarity in your core, in your blood”.

He said that in the world of Presidents Vladimir Putin,Donald Trump, Recep Erdoğan of Turkey and others, unionshave to “assert our rights, not just defend them”.

He said: “We have to push for the rights of our students,our communities, the vulnerable. And we have to lead. Wehave to lead with our ideas and our convictions and we haveto lead with our actions.

“We have to be close to our members and you are close toyour members. There is no alternative to that.

“You must be where they are, you must be listening to themand you must be organising and bargaining and negotiatingand fighting for them as they feel the distress and theburnout and all the bureaucratic things this administration isputting on them. You need to be with them right now.

“But we also need to be able to communicate to ourmembers our analysis of what is happening. It is very easyand very dangerous, because of all the noise and all theTrump and all the other stuff that is out there for people totune out.”

Mr Edwards praised the NASUWT for its international workand its support and solidarity, in particular, for unions andcivil and human rights organisations in its priority countriesof Burma/Myanmar, Colombia, Iraq, Zimbabwe and Bahrain.

He said: “Part of what you have to do is get the rest of the

world caring as much as you do. That is part of why weneed you in EI, because you care so much.”

He also stressed that in the current climate there werecertain imperatives that unions, including the NASUWT, hadto hold true to.

He added: “We have to absolutely defend our core values,now more than ever. We have to defend our values.”

Mr Edwards said EI had fought and won a battle withmultinational corporations who he claimed only saweducation as a means of selling services to governmentsand setting up chains of low-fee schools which could chargethe poorest in societies to access education.

He said: “The companies and corporations would very muchlike to privatise what we do. At the same time as EI waspushing for the right to a free, inclusive quality educationfor every child, which we got, they were pushing forsomething called learning, not education.

“They wanted more testing. Instead of more kids havingaccess to school, they wanted an indicator of words perminute. They believed that somehow the entire planet wasgoing to agree that the indicator of our success is how fasta seven-year-old can read!

“They also had the assessment system to track it – they hadthe tests to sell to governments and they also had theteacher training modules and protocols and a wholemonitoring regime.

“That was their vision. Their ideas were so bankrupt buttheir coffers were so full. But we won that one based on ourvalues, based on our assertion of rights and based on ourideas.”

Mr Edwards referred to a recent meeting of theInternational Summit on the Teaching Profession. He saidUK teachers work “far more hours than any of yourcolleagues in any of the other countries”.

But he said that even in the face of “really compellingevidence”, the ideologies that underpinned an “anti-teacher,anti-union view of the world” were strong.

He added: “In order to lead, in order to make a differencein the world, we need to resist the urge to only lookinwardly. We must understand that to make a world ofdifference in a different world, we must build local, nationaland global solidarity.”

Mr Edwards concluded with an uplifting message to thedelegates in the hall, telling them: “We must know what ishappening in the broader world because we are out in the

broader world, we are part of the broaderworld. The broader world is part of ourclassrooms, it is part of who we are, it is partof who our students are and what our identityis.

“I know that isn’t something I need to tell theNASUWT. You have solidarity in your core, inyour blood, it is absolutely what is going tohelp us win. Solidarity doesn’t have a pricepoint.

“I am humbled and honoured to representyou globally. On behalf of the 32.5million teachers around theworld who stand with youin this struggle, as youstand with them,thank you verymuch.”

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NASUWT INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITYAWARD FOR JAILED TEACHERJailed Iranian teacher trade unionist Esmail Abdi, who is currentlyon hunger strike, was this year’s recipient of the NASUWTInternational Solidarity Award.

He received the award in recognition of his commitment tofighting for the rights of teachers and for quality education in Iran.

Mr Abdi is leader of the Tehran branch of the Iran Teachers’ TradeAssociation (ITTA) and he was convicted of national securityoffences in February 2016 merely for organising peacefulprotests against the regime.

He was given a six-year prison sentence, and although recentlyhe was allowed to leave the notorious Evin Prison, he wasrearrested after only 11 days and taken back into custody.

The NASUWT is continuing to work closely with AmnestyInternational UK and Education International to press for MrAbdi’s unconditional release from prison and to call on the Iranianauthorities to respect human and trade union rights.

The NASUWT is lobbying MPs, the Foreign Office and the IranianAmbassador to the UK about his plight and that of other tradeunionists and human rights advocates.

Announcing the 2018 Award, NASUWT President Dan McCarthysaid: “We have been in contact with Esmail’s family andcolleagues.

“Esmail’s wife has expressed her sincere happiness and thanksto the NASUWT for our support for Esmail.

“Conference – this Award signals the next stage in our work tocampaign for freedom for Esmail Abdi and for all teachers inIran.”

Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, said: “EsmailAbdi is an inspiration to teachers and trade unionists across theworld, through his courage to stand up for trade union andhuman rights in the face of oppressive and harsh treatment.

“Esmail’s courage and determination to continue to fight forquality education in Iran, despite the terrible personal cost hehas had to endure, is truly humbling.

“The NASUWT is continuing to maintain solidarity with Esmailand with teachers in Iran, working with partners, includingAmnesty International, to press for Esmail’s unconditionalrelease.”

At the same time, the NASUWT paid a special tribute to RobertoBaradel of CTERA in Argentina.

Roberto has been a key advocate and campaigner for qualityeducation for all children in Buenos Aires and throughoutArgentina.

As a voice of teachers, he has been vilified in the Argentinepress.

Shortly after receiving one of numerous death threats,Argentina’s President Macri was quoted as saying, “Baradeldoes not need anyone to look after him”.

Dr Patrick Roach, Deputy General Secretary of the NASUWT,said: “Roberto – we in the NASUWT and the international tradeunion community are here to look after you. And we stand withour sisters and brothers in CTERA in your campaign for the rightto free, quality public education for all.”

In presenting the NASUWT International Solidarity Award 2018,Dr Roach put the Award into the context of the NASUWT’s widerinternational programme:

“Over the past year, we have seen the escalating use of violenceto deny teachers their rights at work and to prevent teachersfrom educating the next generation. And we have witnessedattacks on trade union rights, too – attacks on fundamentalhuman rights, including the right to freedom of association, andthe right to form and organise democratic and free trade unions.

“Last year, we were honoured to be joined at Conference by ourdear colleagues from the Bahrain Teachers’ Association – MahdiAbu Dheeb and Jalila al Salman.

“But, on return last year from Conference, both Mahdi and Jalilawere immediately detained by the Bahrain authorities. Both hadsevere restrictions imposed on them.

“In response, the NASUWT has and will continue our efforts tohighlight what is happening to our colleagues in Bahrain and wehave also raised our deep concerns with the UK Government.

“In Turkey, the teachers’ union Egitim Sen has continued toendure systematic targeting and repression by the authorities.

“But, in spite of this, and with the support of the internationalcommunity, they have stood with them. And we will continue tostand with them.

“In Myanmar, we have been appalled by the treatment ofRohingya Muslims by the Burmese military, which has alsotriggered a major refugee and humanitarian crisis. Working withBurma Campaign UK, we will continue to do whatever we canto highlight and end the scourge of this ‘textbook ethniccleansing’.

“And, in Zimbabwe, whilst Robert Mugabe has been deposedas President, we have reaffirmed our commitment to continueour work with our brothers and sisters in the PTUZ who havecontinued to live and breathe every day the true meaning oftrade unionism.”

Many people in the UK may not have heard of EsmailAbdi. Esmail is a teacher. He teaches mathematics. He isalso a member of a trade union. Esmail believes in theimportance of quality education for all children andyoung people and he has worked hard to achieve betterworking conditions for teachers.

Esmail is a leader of the Tehran branch of the IranTeachers’ Trade Association. He is currently on hungerstrike in the notorious Evin Prison whilst serving a six-year sentence.

But, Esmail has committed no crime. His imprisonmenton so-called national security offences is widelyrecognised by international observers including AmnestyInternational as an attempt to silence him and to preventhim from highlighting concerns about poor wages, theinadequate education budget, and the unjustifiedimprisonment of teachers and other trade unionists.

Esmail has been denied communications with membersof his family and his lawyer, and the brutal conditions ofthe prison are taking a toll on his health, even before hisdecision to go on hunger strike. However, despite hisimprisonment, the Iranian authorities have not been ableto silence him.

By presenting this award to Esmail, the NASUWT andour members are sending a clear message to the Iranianauthorities about the need to respect teachers’ rights

and to meet their obligations to protecting therights of all children to quality education.

We stand with Esmail and his colleaguesin Iran in their courageous struggle forquality education for all.

Working with Amnesty InternationalUK, Education International andother partners, we will beintensifying our lobbying topersuade the Iranian authorities torelease Esmail from prison and torespect the rights of teachers andother workers.

Esmail Abdi once asked this: ‘Is it a crimeto be a member of a trade association andparticipate in peaceful demonstrations… Isit a crime to gather signatures petitioningthe government to uphold the law?’

Well, we don’t think this is a crime. And,neither is it a crime for others to add theirvoices to Esmail’s, to sign a petition or writea letter calling on the Iranian authorities torespect human rights.

To find out more about Esmail’sstory, please visit:www.nasuwt.org.uk/international

Esmail ‘has committed no crime’by Dr Patrick Roach

Esmail Abdi is an inspiration to teachers and trade unionists across the world, through hiscourage to stand up for trade union and human rights in the face of oppressiveand harsh treatment.

UNIONS TOGETHERON THE FIGHT FORQUALITY EDUCATIONThe NASUWT helped to shape the international educationdebate when it hosted a meeting of trade union leadersfrom around the world.

Trade unionists from countries including Bahrain, USA,Australia, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, Iraq, Iraqi-Kurdistan,Zimbabwe, Ghana, Turkey, Trinidad and Tobago,Bermuda, the Netherlands and Germany shared theirexperiences and ideas at an international round-tableevent which took place at the Union’s Annual Conferencein April.

Union leaders spoke about the challenges affecting theteaching profession and the provision of quality publiceducation in the context of meeting the UN SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDG).

Key concerns raised included: the right to education forchildren and young people; the militarisation of schools;government investment in education; extremism and thethreat to democracy; child refugees; and the denial of theright to education for children in prison.

Representatives agreed on the need for joint work in theface of attacks on the status of teachers, collectivebargaining rights, and trade union rights. The meetingalso confirmed the need for action in the face of the lackof investment in school places and the failure ofgovernments to uphold the right to education for allchildren.

NASUWT Deputy General Secretary Dr Patrick Roach toldthe meeting:

“On the 25th anniversary of Education International andWorld Teachers’ Day, we believe there is no betteropportunity to renew our work together on human andtrade union rights, shining a light on injustice and standingtogether for democracy and to protect the right to qualitypublic education for all children and young people.

“In the last 25 years, Education International is operatingin a massively changed world, where democracy anddemocratic institutions, including trade unions, are underrelentless attack from increasing authoritarianism andright-wing ideologies.

“Our trade union leaders are being harassed, intimidatedand jailed whilst the rights of children are also beingundermined.”

The meeting examined how unions could work togetherto respond to these challenges and to enhance the workof Education International.

Dr Roach said: “Education International has a key role toplay in meeting these challenges, but our memberorganisations must also step up and find ways to worktogether in the face of these challenges.

“We must hold onto our solidarity and commit to continueour dialogue together for the benefit of our members.”

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You have been subjected to

anonymous threats of

imprisonment and death due

to your criticism of the

Argentinian Government.

Can you explain what impact

this has had on you and your

family and how this affected

your life and work as a trade

unionist?

Yes, since last year, although itstarted in December 2015 when thisgovernment took power. The threatswere directed at my family, my fourchildren and my two year oldgranddaughter, cowardly threatsdirected at my family. This hasimpacted very strongly on my family.They are not accustomed or indeedprepared for such threats. Last year,things became even morecomplicated, with the Presidentpublically stating “Baradel needs noone to look after him”. I washumbled by the teachers’ reaction tothis threat. At the nextdemonstration, they broughtbanners with the slogan “We willlook after Baradel” and from thenext day teachers formed a guardoutside my house. Never has thisoccurred before. It felt like a hugfrom them. Although this has been ahard time, it was also verycomforting to have this support fromthe teachers and indeed from manyinternational organisations indefence of human rights, and ofcourse from yourselves the NASUWT.The support from members mademe feel very emotional. It was astrong message from those teachers.

Can you explain more about

what the conditions are like

for teachers in Argentina?

What are the biggest

challenges facing the

profession at the moment?

Under the previous government,legislation established negotiationsto take place to ensure pay paritybetween the regions irrespective ofthe regional education finances. Lastyear, central government eliminatedthis commitment. This now leavesregions to either ignore minimal payparity or unable to fund it, as thenational government would nolonger provide the funds to deliver.This has led to longer and morecomplex discussions at a regionallevel and a move away from previousgovernments’ commitments toensure parity of pay for teachers,which includes additional nationalfunding.

You have faced an attempt to

crack down on the right of

your union to collectively

bargain. What impact has

this had on your union and

what is the current state of

the relationship between the

Government and trade unions

in Argentina?

They have painted all of us, labourlawyers, labour rights judges, humanrights organisations, unions, as amafia. We have a government of therich and business, so that, for them,those that raise their voices indefence of workers’ rights are anobstacle.

The government and much of thepress label us as a mafia that goesaround coercing their members andbreaking the law, even though theright to strike is enshrined in theconstitution. So today in Argentina,we are living in a situation wheregovernment and business is trying tode-legitimise our rights to defend therights of workers and teachers. But,despite the attacks on us, the peoplesupport our position in defendingpublic education and our right toprotest.

What does being Highly

Commended by the NASUWT

for your work to fight for

teachers mean to you?

It had a great impact in Argentina andthe acknowledgement in yourconference was a beautiful thing as itenabled me to tell my children what Ido: fight for the rights of teachers.I felt the NASUWT were hugging meand hugging the fight of Argentinianteachers, and we felt this hug ofprotection that says to thegovernment, “Hey, we are watchingyou, so be careful; he is not on hisown, don’t do things you should notbe doing”. I will be eternally grateful,and it is also a source of great pridefor Argentina to have suchrecognition, from such an importantorganisation as the NASUWT,recognising our fight.

What makes you want to

continue to represent the

interests of teachers even after

the threats that have been

made against you?

I want my children and the children ofArgentina to live in a better country, ina country where we are not threatened,where we can say what we want freely,where we can live in a free democracythat gives us social justice andfreedom.

Many ask how I put up with thesethreats, and I say that when therucksack is heavy I look behind me atthose that have been killed, tortured,disappeared, had members of theirfamily killed, their children kidnapped,and I look at what happened to themand my rucksack feels lighter and myconvictions stronger and I feel that wehave to keep fighting. It is an honour tohave such a prestigious commendation.

Argentinian teachers’leader faces down threatsRoberto Baradel of the Argentinian teachers’ union CTERAspoke to International Solidarity about the situation facingteachers and trade unionists and what it means to him to beHighly Commended by the NASUWT for his work.

Teachers and pupils continue to be victims of politicalviolence in Zimbabwe, six months on from the removal ofRobert Mugabe, an NASUWT fringe meeting atConference heard.

The President of the Progressive Teachers Union ofZimbabwe (PTUZ), Takavafira Zhou, said pupils werebeing exploited for political ends and that little hadchanged since the military took over in a bloodless coupin November last year.

He said that Zimbabwe needed “political, social andeconomic hygiene” and he called on the internationalcommunity to put pressure on the regime to hold freeand fair elections.

Dr Zhou told the packed fringe: “There was so muchhope that with the fall of Mugabe there could be agovernment of national unity. But the hope quicklyevaporated like morning dew.

“Realistically, there is nothing that has changed exceptthat a dictator has fallen.”

He likened the change from Robert Mugabe to themilitary-backed Emmerson Mnangagwa as “replacing thedriver with the person who was the conductor”.

Zimbabwe was now a military state and the lives ofordinary people didn’t matter, he added.

Disturbingly, schools were still on the frontline of politicalviolence. He told delegates: “We have seen school pupilsbeing bussed to political rallies, schools closed forpolitical rallies by the new military regime. Teachers arebeing assaulted by the youth militias in schools and themilitias are not penalised.”

He pointed out that there had been a failure to restoreany collective bargaining rights for teachers, somethinghe referred to as being like “collective begging”.

Dr Zhou called for an end to “political manipulation” ofthe police, soldiers and traditional leaders which was a

threat to democratic change.

He called on the international community to overseeelections and help Zimbabwe conduct them in a

“free, fair and credible manner”. Electionobservers needed to visit rural areas more and

stay for longer periods before and after thepolls, he added.

Speaking for the NASUWT, DeputyGeneral Secretary Dr Patrick

Roach stressed the deepfriendship the Union was

“privileged” to enjoywith the PTUZ.

He said: “You can be absolutely assured of ourcontinuing solidarity and support in the months andyears ahead.”

Dr Roach said it hadn’t come as any surprise that themedia had presented the replacement of Mugabe byMnangagwa as Zimbabwe somehow crossing theRubicon.

“But as we have heard, the situation frankly isn’t anydifferent. Maybe one or two of the lead actors in thisplay have changed, but the plot remains the same. Wehave to be extremely concerned about that.

“The fall of Mugabe, whilst it might present anopportunity for the restoration of a true democraticprocess (we shouldn’t take that for granted)…it requiresconfidence among citizens that this is an electionprocess, free and fair, but also confidence in theinternational community in the same way.”

He added: “We are very concerned about the plight ofteachers in Zimbabwe as well, and that is why ourrelationship with PTUZ is so crucially important.

“The right to collective bargaining for teachers andother public sector workers was a ‘fundamental right’which was being flouted.”

He emphasised: “We have got to be campaigning forthe restoration of those rights.

“We have seen the attacks on education…themilitarisation of schools, the ways they are being usedin violent ways by the military, by the police and indeedby insurgents in Zimbabwean society. That is aboutattacking fundamental rights as well.

“It is beholden on us within the NASUWT, it is beholdenon us in the international education trade unionmovement, to be standing up for those rights.”

Sunit Bagree, campaigns officer at Action for SouthernAfrica (ACTSA), said there had been a “furthermilitarisation” of the state with the appointment of keygenerals into ministerial posts.

He said, while any upcoming elections were hugelyimportant, there was a need to align Zimbabwe’s lawswith its constitution. Human rights defenders had to beprotected and there needed to be respect for theeditorial independence of media organisations.

There was a need for proper investment in theZimbabwe Human Rights Commission and the judiciary,he added.

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Esmail Abdi – an Iranian maths teacher and trade unionist – was arrested on 27June 2015 after voluntarily going to Evin Prison to ask why he had been bannedfrom travel.

After an unfair trial, he was sentenced to six years. The conditions in thenotoriously brutal Evin Prison – also known as Iran’s ‘torture factory’ – are taking aharsh toll on his health. He has already required medical leave once, but he isnow being refused care.

Esmail has now been on hunger strike since 24 April of this year to protest histreatment and the criminalisation of trade unions.

Please stand with Esmail by demanding his release today.

Free teacher tradeunionist on hunger strike

Sign the international petition to

FREE ESMAIL ABDIwww.nasuwt.org.uk/iran