Autumn meeting of the ETUCE Committee
Published:
On 7-8 November 2022, the members of the ETUCE Committee met in Brussels for the autumn ETUCE Committee meeting. The Committee members adopted several crucial documents and set the priorities for the coming months including the launch of the ETUCE Campaign on the attractiveness of the teaching profession.
The ETUCE President, Larry Flanagan, opened the meeting, giving the floor to Susan Hopgood, President of Education International, who addressed the ETUCE Committee for the first time. She insisted on the vital role of the close cooperation between the organisations’ regions in these troubled times as social dialogue is increasingly under pressure and peace and democracy are threatened in different countries across the globe, pointing to the examples of the Ukraine and Iran, thanking the Committee members for their solidarity. Pointing to the achievements and critical input EI made to the Transforming Education Summit in New York in September this year, she highlighted the continued work on sustainability in education and EI’s campaign on privatisation in education. Larry Flanagan then welcomed the new representative on the Greek country seat, Nikiforos Konstantinou, from OLME and Magnus Thor Jonsson from KI on the country seat for Iceland.
One of the main points on the agenda was the report and feedback of members on the ETUCE Special Conference, held on 5 and 6 July 2022, in Liège (Belgium). The Committee members expressed their satisfaction on the Conference outcomes and the joy to meet in person again after two years of online meetings due to COVID.
High on the agenda was the discussion on the soon to be launched ETUCE Campaign on the attractiveness of the teaching profession aiming at raising awareness on the 10 key action points outlined in the Policy Paper adopted in Liège in July. The meeting allowed for Committee members to share campaign experiences and discuss more in depth the campaign strategy.
The members of the Committee expressed their continued solidarity with colleagues recently engaged in protests and actions across the region and especially with the people of Ukraine after an intervention from Kateryna Maliuta-Osaulova, international Secretary of TUESWU, who joined remotely to update the Committees on the use of the EI/ETUCE Solidarity fund and the latest impacts of the war where people are experiencing daily electricity, water and heating cuts as critical infrastructure has been shelled which is seriously affecting the education provision and the work or the trade union.
An extensive overview of the latest developments as regards Education and Training was presented, including the priorities of the Czech Presidency and a report of the European Education Council of April 2022. Most importantly, four crucial position papers were submitted to and adopted by the ETUCE Committee: ETUCE Position on improving access to and quality of early childhood education within the European Care Strategy, ETUCE position on enhancing the mobility of teachers and trainers, ETUCE position on the role of education in the Conference on the Future of Europe, ETUCE Position on Enabling Factors for Digital Education and Provision of Digital Skills in Education (see list of adopted documents below).
The ETUCE Committee was also updated on ETUCE’s work in the field of Occupational Health and Safety and adopted Recommendations to Address the Long COVID-19 syndrome in the Education Sector (see list of adopted documents below).
Following the overview on Trade Union Renewal developments, ETUCE’s work on social dialogue was presented and participants were reminded about the upcoming plenary meeting of the European sectoral social dialogue in education, to take place on 14 December 2022.
After a presentation of ETUCE’s recent initiatives in relation to the climate emergency, the Committee also adopted Practical guidelines for trade unions on addressing environmental issues and sustainable environmental development in the education sector (see list of adopted documents below). These guidelines were developed in the frame of the ETUCE Project on Education for environmental Sustainability.
In light of the recent skyrocketing energy prices, the Committee members also adopted an important statement on the Impact on the Energy Crisis on the Education Sector (see list of adopted documents (see list of adopted documents below).
The next ETUCE Committee meeting is scheduled to take place on 20-21 March 2023.
Adopted documents:
ETUCE position on enhancing the mobility of teachers and trainers
ETUCE position on the role of education in the Conference on the Future of Europe
ETUCE Statement on the Impact on the Energy Crisis on the Education Sector
ETUCE Recommendations to Address the Long COVID-19 syndrome in the Education Sector