European Trade Union Committee for Education

The COVID 19 outbreak is a public health crisis quite different than anything Europe has faced for many years. As education personnel and their trade unions grapple with the outbreak, we are supporting and informing member organisations in any way we can.

• Montenegro: news of the impact of the pandemic on education
• Kosovo: SBASHK demands signing of Collective Agreement and recognition of teachers’ daily work
• France: education trade unions prepared to strike for decent salaries and quality learning environments
• COVID-19: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control publishes a new study on COVID transmission in schools
• Hungary: ETUCE Member organisation calls for teachers to be among priority groups for COVID-19 vaccination
• Malta: MUT orders a strike after the government denies their request for online teaching
• UK: Education trade unions mobilised to denounce ‘chaotic’ reopening of schools, advising members not to return, prompting government’s U-turn
• Basque Country: thousands of education workers strike for a safe return to school and quality education for all students
• Reopening of schools in the Netherlands: ETUCE Member organisation AOb demands quicker testing and better health and safety measures to protect staff and students and keep schools open
• Education social partners discuss the aftermath of COVID-19 in Europe
• Germany: Ensuring health and safety of teachers requires more efforts for the reopening of schools
• COVID-19: In Italy, 400 000 education workers gather for online rallies to protest for better employment and working conditions during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond
• COVID-19 : NEU report highlights weeks of unanswered questions to the government on the reopening of schools
• German-speaking education trade unions LCH, GÖD and VBE unite for a joint statement on COVID-19 and call for better digital training of teachers
• In Serbia, education trade unions mobilise to advocate for safe return to school for education personnel and students alike at the end of the school year
• Higher education admission procedures risk being disrupted by COVID-19 crisis
• Eurydice reports on closure and reopening of schools and education institutions across Europe
• Remote but not far away: Italy’s FLC-CGIL takes trade union organising online
• Unions in Belgium and Germany join school community voices to demand careful reopening
• In Denmark DLF works hard so that the health and safety of education personnel is protected in back-to-school policies
• In Malta MUT works with government and social partners to guide education system through crisis
• Hungarian trade unions protest plans to force education personnel off public sector contracts
• As France cancels exams, SNES-FSU demands a solution fair to students and teachers
• Spain's FECCOO calls for government action on teacher recruitment
• In Germany VBE insists that lawmakers must consult teachers on COVID-19 legislation
• Teachers in Serbia make education work despite the crisis
• SBASHK supports education staff in Kosovo with the challenges of digital teaching
• ETUCE calls for coordinated and rational measures
• Nordic education unions join forces with public authorities to fight pandemic
• NEU helps staff in England and Wales stay safe and negotiate with leadership
• Russia’s ESEUR holds online Congress in shadow of COVID-19 outbreak
• Romania’s FSLI offers psychological support to teachers
• Albanian education union uses technology to reduce impact of COVID-19
• Estonia shares digital education tools for distance teaching and learning
• Latest information on the closure of schools and other education institutions

• COVID-19

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On 15 September 2020, following protests, 70% of education workers in the Basque Autonomous Community joined in a widely successful strike to demand measures allowing for a safe return to school and guaranteeing quality education. 

Mobilising for a safe return to school in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, 70% of education workers in the Basque Autonomous Community went on strike on 15 September, an action called for by all of the trade unions in the Basque Autonomous Community (ELA, LAB, Steilas, CCOO and UGT). Atop this impressive mobilisation, highlighting the urgency of the need for measures, education workers received widespread support in the streets, namely from numerous parents’ associations and student movements. Protests were organised in Bilbao, Vitoria-Gasteiz, and San Sebastian, gathering a total of 17 000 people. The scale of this mobilisation is all the more remarkable given government’s last-minute attempts to defuse the strike, as denounced by the trade unions.

Education trade unions are demanding the immediate implementation of measures to guarantee a safe and consensual face to face return to school. This return, however, cannot be done safely unless the government agrees to reduce student presence in the classroom to a maximum of 10 to 15 students, increases staff ratios in all domains of the school, and provides schools with Personal protective equipment (PPE). Education trade unions further stress the need to reduce existing inequalities, including technological, and linguistical, and to guarantee canteen services for all children.

The movement in the Basque Autonomous Community echoes the demands made by education workers and our member organisations throughout Europe. The ETUCE continues to stand with its member organisations in their efforts to facilitate the recovery of the education sector from the COVID-19 crisis and their efforts for healthy, safe, and inclusive schools. Detailed measures can be found in our statement The Road to Recovery from the COVID-19 Crisis.