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World AIDS Day Is Dec. 1
Nearly 40 million people worldwide are living with HIV today, including 2.3 million children under the age of 15. As we mark World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, AFT members are invited to and support our ongoing AFT-Africa AIDS Campaign, which provides resources for African teacher unions for AIDS prevention, counseling and care programs for their members. Members can support a special fund for this purpose by ordering a special AIDS wristband or pin through a donation to the AFT Educational Foundation. To order, go to the AFT Store at http://www.aftstore.org/ and click on Special Resources. (12/06)
Materials Available for World Teachers' Day, Oct. 5
World Teachers' Day, celebrated each year on Oct. 5, provides an opportunity for teachers througout the world to highlight the important role teachers play in building a better world for all children. Established by UNESCO, World Teachers' Day is celebrated in more than 100 countries across the globe. This year's theme is "Quality Teachers for Quality Education." Education International has developed campaign materials that are available to download and adapt for use by teachers and unions who are planning World Teachers' Day events and activities. The materials are available at: http://www.ei-ie.org/worldteachersday/en/resources.php A limited number of posters are also available from the AFT. Send an e-mail with your name and address to Gregory King at gking@aft.org to receive a poster. (10/06)
Urgent Appeal for Action To Help Zimbabwe Unionists
AFL-CIO human rights award honoree Wellington Chibebe was among the trade unionists and others arrested and beaten by police in Zimbabwe earlier this month following peaceful protests. To read full story, click here.
Swedish Teachers Union Conference
Late last year, an AFT delegation from the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers attended the triennial conference of the Swedish Teachers' Union. The AFT attendees came away with new ideas about how to move union business forward in such a forum. To read an overview of the conference, click here.
AFT Protests Arrest of Iranian Professor
AFT president Edward J. McElroy has written to the Iranian government protesting the arrest and detention of Professor Ramin Jahanbegloo, chair of the Department of Contemporary Studies at Tehran's Cultural Research Bureau. Dr. Jahanbegloo has taught at several major universities in Europe and North America, including the Sorbonne, Harvard University and the University of Toronto. "We are very concerned that Dr. Jahanbegloo has been detained because of views he has expressed in his scholarly works," McElroy said. To read his letter, click here. (05/06)
AFT Urges Defeat of British Nnion's Israeli Boycott Resolution
AFT president Edward J. McElroy has written to the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education, a British union, to urge the defeat of a proposed resolution calling for a boycott of Israeli lecturers who do not publicly disagree with what the resolution calls "Israel's apartheid policies." The AFT strongly opposes boycotts of universities and faculty. "We see such boycotts as grave threats to the democratic values of academic freedom and free expression," McElroy wrote. To read the full letter, click here. (5/06)
AFT Criticizes Macedonian Government Reversal on Teachers' Pay
AFT president Edward J. McElroy has written to the prime minister of Macedonia to oppose the government's announcement that it does not intend to honor the wage agreement it reached with the Macedonia teachers' union in February 2006. The reversal, announced just one day prior to the expected date of the agreement’s implementation, indicates that the government does not take seriously its commitments under ILO conventions, McElroy said. To read the letter, click here. (05/06)
AFT Sends Letter in Support of Mexican Miners
AFT president Edward J. McElroy, secretary-treasurer Nat LaCour and executive vice president Antonia Cortese have written to the president of Mexico expressing strong objections to the recent actions taken by the Mexican government against the National Union of Mine and Metal Workers of the Mexican Republic. "We were shocked to see miners killed by Mexican police in mid-April during a violent assault against striking union members in Michoacan state," the officers state in their letter. To read the complete letter, click here. (05/06)
AFT Members Join Rally To Save Darfur
A large contingent of AFT members and staff were among the tens of thousands of people who gathered on the national Mall in Washington, D.C., on April 30 to call on the Bush administration to step up its efforts to end the genocidal violence in Darfur. To read more, click this link http://www.aft.org/news/2006/darfur.htm. (04/06)
AFT Challenges Google on China Deal
AFT president Edward J. McElroy has written to the CEO of Google to challenge the company's decision to comply with censorship demands made by the Chinese government. To read the letter, click here. (04/06)
"Send My Friend to School Week" Set for April 24-30
Classroom educators are invited to participate in activities leading up to “Send My Friend to School Week,” April 24-30, organized by the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) and Education International. This year's theme is "Every Child Needs a Teacher," which supports GCE's continuing pressure on politicians to provide more funding and greater leadership in achieving education for all. The United Nations estimates that at least 15 million more teachers are needed for the goal of universal primary education alone. In many low-income countries, teachers are hired with little training and often are forced to cope with enormous classes, meager pay and poor living and working conditions. Yet good teachers are essential for children to learn, and female teachers are particularly important for helping girls stay in school, says GCE. Click here for ideas on classroom activities and to download materials that raise awareness about this issue. (04/06)
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| AFT staffer Joe Davis works with a 7th grade English class in Namibia. |
An AFT project to bring computers to schools in Namibia is having an impact on student achievement. That’s the message sent by U.S. Peace Corps volunteer Gail Taylor in a short article describing the impact of classroom computers on students at the Okambebe School in the northern section of the country. In her story, Taylor provides a brief chronology of the advances made by a student named Isaac, who greatly improved his writing skills with the introduction of computers at the school. To read Taylor’s update on Isaac’s progress, click here. (04/06)
Child Labor Posters Available at No Cost
Would you like a poster highlighting the role education can play in ending child labor? The two-sided poster provides information on child labor and the role teachers and unions are playing in an effort to end the exploitation of children. World-wide, more than 250 million children, some as young as 5 years old, are at work. As many as 130 million children work full time and do not go to school. If you would like a poster, send an e-mail to Gregory King at the AFT at gking@aft.org. Write Child Labor Poster in the subject line, and include your name and address. (03/06)
AFT Vice President Kathleen Donahue Meets with Union Leaders in Georgia and Ukraine
NYSUT and AFT Vice President Kathleen Donahue recently traveled to the Republic of Georgia and the Ukraine as part of an AFT delegation to meet with teacher union leaders in the two countries. In her report on the trip, Donahue reflects on the dramatic changes taking place as teacher unions are forged in the former Soviet republics. "Things we take for granted, like expecting union dues to go toward providing member services, are not absolutes there," she writes. "Earlier state-controlled Communist trade unions collected dues, but members received few, if any services in return for their contributions." To read Donahue's complete report, which appears in the February 2nd issue of New York Teacher, click this link: Http://www.nysut.org/newyorkteacher/2005-2006/060202georgia.html (02/06)
Yemeni Teachers Welcome AFT Solidarity Action
AFT president Edward J. McElroy in January sent a letter of protest to the president of the Republic of Yemen criticizing the Yemeni government's enactment of a new wages and salaries law that curtails the rights of Yemeni teachers and reduces their benefits. AFT international affairs department staffer Larry Specht presented a copy of this letter to the president of the Yemen Teachers Syndicate, Achmed Rabahi, at a Jan. 24 meeting of the union's executive committee in Sana'a. Rabahi and the Syndicate leadership welcomed this support and expressed their thanks to President McElroy, the AFT and American teachers. (01/06)
The AFT has opened discussions with Syndicate leaders and with leaders of the other major Yemeni teacher union, the General Union of Yemeni Teaching and Education Professionals, on possible cooperation on union training and professional development.
Lebanon Training Session
Lebanese Press, Education Minister Turn Out for American Federation of Teachers Educational Foundation (AFTEF) Conference.
On Jan. 8, 2006, in Beirut, Lebanon, the Lebanese Minister of Education was on hand to present certificates of achievement to participants in a rigorous four-day train-the-trainers conference co-sponsored by the American Federation of Teachers Educational Foundation (AFTEF).
Representatives of Lebanese print and electronic media were also there to record the event. The seminar is part of a year-long joint project of the AFTEF and the Syndicate of Private School Teachers aimed at strengthening training capacity in the areas of professional development and democratic union leadership principles and practices.
The project is supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Middle East Partnership Initiative. The AFTEF and the Syndicate will be providing mentoring and support to the new trainers in the coming months. (01/06)
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| AFTEF Trainer and Lebanese Colleague in Roll-Playing Exercise |
Lebanese Newspaper Highlights AFT Training Workshop
The Arabic language Lebanese newspaper "Safir" published a report on the latest training program the AFT is conducting in Lebanon with one of the two major Lebanese teachers’ unions. Safir, which had previously criticized the Lebanon union for cooperating with an American teacher union, this time takes a positive approach and describes the workshop as being "rich in theoretical learning and practical activities." AFT staff member Larry Specht is quoted in the article. To read an English translation of the article, click here. (01/06)
Republic of Georgia Agrees to Teachers' Demands
Following demonstrations and public mobilizations organized by educators in the Republic of Georgia, government officials have agreed to the demands of teachers to protect school funding and pensions. AFT president Edward J. McElroy wrote to the General Secretary of the Education and Science Trade Union of Georgia to congratulate the union and its members on their successful efforts to change the Georgian government's policies. To read President McElroy's letter, click here. (01/06)
