European Trade Union Committee for Education

The ETUCE Conference notes:

·Trade unions are structures established to protect the rights of workers, improve working conditions and criticize and struggle againstanti-democratic, ultra-capitalist government policies. The independence of trade unions from employers and the government is a fundamental principle in the struggle to protect the rights of working people. Independent trade unions are obliged to look after the interests of workers and must be resistant to pressure from the government or employers.

·These are days of great crisis, especially seems the last decade, the deteriorating and deepening authoritarianism in the world and the corporatist capitalism that perceive everything within the framework of the interests of maximizing profits which has never ever experienced at this degree. As right-wing populist parties gain power and influence, they attack national and international laws supporting universal human rights and deepen their policies of exploitation and oppression. Parallel to rise of far right and extremism, right-wing trade unions that are in cahoots with right-wing governments are gaining strength as well. These trade unions support the anti-democratic, capitalist policies and practices of autocratic governments, and try to increase the legitimacyof these suchsexist, discriminatory, racist, militaristpolicies and practices with labour exploitation, destruction of nature.

·The close ties of right-wing trade unions with employers leads to collective bargaining agreements that ignore, rather than guarantee decent salaries, pensions,working conditions and democraticrights and interests of teachers and education staff. These trade unions defend the interests of right-wing governments and employers rather than workers. They also hinder the development of social policies and justice, making it difficult to protect the vested rights of the working classes. It aims to weaken the working class struggle by creating duality among workers through racist, sexist and discriminatory discourse, statements and publications.

·Right-wing trade unions generally pursue pro-government policies, thus hindering independent trade union struggles and preventing trade unions from fulfilling their true representative duties.

The ETUCE conference asserts:

·Independent trade union struggles must be strengthened for a social order based on democracy and for a public, qualified, mother-tongue, gender-equal,secular, inclusiveeducation system for all and for society.

The ETUCE Conference mandates ETUCE to:

·To support the struggles of genuinetrade unions that are independent of the government and employers, based on the demands of education worker, and students with a critical stance.

·Taking a stand against right-wing trade unions that defend the interests of employers, right-wing and populist governmentsor right-wing political parties and their agenda, not those of working people.

·Over the next three years, in order to combat the attacks on the rights of education workers, students and parents and the attempts to disrupt the independent education trade union struggle, research and document the negative impact of the pro-government media, non- independent unions, and other mechanisms, which have gained strength with the growth of the far right, on the independent struggle of education trade unions and on the education system as a whole.

·To develop and carry out activities such as campaigns and educational work to discuss and develop strategies to respond to far rightattacks of these mechanisms.

-Consider receiving funding from the European Commission to fund projects, research, documentation, campaigning and training.