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EI’s UK affiliates, the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), have deplored the fact that the Education Secretary, Michael Gove, is pushing ahead with plans to have schools taken over by outside sponsors and removed from the control of the...

The 8th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) was held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 15-17 December. EI joined the international trade union movement in warning of growing social unrest, rising inequality, and increased hardship if trade liberalisation continues in its current form.

The final communiqué of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Financial Committee has taken heed of warnings from Global Unions to acknowledge that ‘the global economy has entered a dangerous phase’ and support calls for ‘bold action from members and the IMF’.

With a biannual meeting of the world’s trade ministers set for December in Geneva, negotiations to liberalise global trade show little sign of progress.

A new report commissioned for the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) and the Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour says the European Union is weakening protections for public services like education in current trade negotiations with Canada.

In its annual trade report released in September, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development sharply criticised those developed countries that have adopted austerity measures.

EI has endorsed the Global Unions statement for the 2011 annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, to be held in Washington, USA, from 25-26 September.

Police attacked the demonstrators with tear gas and water cannon. The students are demanding an increase in the proportion of GDP which is spent on education from four per cent to seven per cent. The demonstrators are also calling for the state to take back control of public schools from...

With the United States presidential elections a little over a year away, EI’s largest U.S. affiliate, the National Education Association (NEA), has set out proposals for a strategy to invest $60 million into a campaign to re-elect President Barack Obama.

Teacher unionists are deeply involved in the make or break talks being held this week in Geneva, Switzerland, in what many see as the last attempt to rescue the troubled Doha Round of international trade negotiations.

The G20 Summit held in Seoul, Korea, on 11-12 November was marked by growing tensions between the world’s two biggest economies – the United States and China – and a failure to address fundamental issues required for sustainable growth and prosperity – including investment in education.

Talks aimed at liberalizing the global trade in goods, agricultural products and services are once again in trouble as negotiators have been unable to bridge their differences despite an intensive week-long push to reach a solution.

While overall negotiations remain stalled, officials cited some progress in other aspects of the Doha Round, including controversial talks aimed at developing new legally-binding disciplines for domestic regulations that may affect trade.

While acknowledging that the end of year deadline to conclude the talks is extremely tight, Mexican Ambassador de Mateo was somewhat optimistic that a conclusion this year would be possible.

A survey of British parents conducted by the National Union of Teachers (NUT), an EI affiliate, has found that a majority of new ‘free schools’ being opened in England are not wanted or needed.

What’s been described as a near final draft of the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) was released in October amidst confusion over whether a deal had in fact been reached.