ETUCE at the ETUC Mid-Term Conference: Public Education is Union Business
At this year’s ETUC Mid-Term Conference, ETUCE made a clear call to the wider trade union movement: public education must be recognised as a shared strategic priority.
Jelmer Evers, European Director of ETUCE, addressed the plenary by highlighting the risks of ongoing privatisation trends in education and calling for collective action. “If we lose public education – and we are losing public education – the trade union movement is already 10-0 behind, to speak in football terms,” he warned.
Evers emphasised that schools are not only workplaces, but also spaces where society’s democratic foundations are shaped. He underlined the importance of engaging with parents, communities and students as a way to organise around shared values and social dialogue. “This opens the door to parents, who are also your – our – members, or potential members,” he said.
ETUCE also welcomed the launch of the ETUC Trade Union Renewal Centre, a new online infrastructure designed to support union capacity building through peer learning and collaboration. Evers noted that education unions can make strong use of the Centre and pointed to ETUCE’s upcoming European project on AI in education as an example of practical, network-based organising across borders.
In a speech that blended political urgency with a call for long-term vision, Evers reminded delegates that education unions must go beyond traditional demands and tap into members’ sense of purpose and pride. “We need to educate all of our members to retain them and activate them,” he said, calling for unions to build their own curriculum rooted in history, human rights, and the political economy of work.
The conference was a reminder that education, far from being a niche issue, is central to the trade union movement’s broader fight for democracy, equality and social justice. As Evers concluded, “You can count on ETUCE and our members—and I hope you will also reach out to your education colleagues in your country.”