An international trade union delegation has offered support to the thousands of teachers dismissed by the government, and to Education International’s national affiliate, which has suffered severe political repression since the political crackdown began.
A 20-strong delegation of representatives from education unions from the European region, led and organised by Education International (EI) and its European regional office (ETUCE) has travelled to Turkey to show support to its members on the ground and condemn the political repression and unruly dismissals of thousands of teachers by the government. According to Egitim Sen, EI’s national affiliate, more than 105,000 public servants, including 37,000 teachers, have been either dismissed or suspended since the government resorted to repression after the failed coup of July 2016. The union reports to have lost more than 1500 members.
Unruly dismissals, ‘Kafkaesque’ measures
Once dismissed or suspended, teachers have no right to appeal or to apply for a different position in the public school system. This situation is allowed by the emergency state decree, and leaves those dismissed stripped from any rights or benefits, such as pension schemes, health care or social insurance.
After receiving pressure from the Council of Europe, the Turkish government decided to put in place a system of appeals on a case-to-case basis that is not providing tangible results because of its lengthy bureaucratic procedure, the mission learnt. Given the high numbers of teachers affected, this system is unlikely to represent a solution.
International solidarity
This is the second visit in a year by an EI delegation to the country. Led by Christine Blower and Susan Flocken, President and Director of the ETUCE, together with ETUCE Vice-Presidents Odile Cordelier and Trudy Kerperien, and Nicolás Richards, an EI Senior Coordinator, the delegates followed a tight schedule over two days. During that time they met with intergovernmental agencies, such as UNICEF and the ILO, the EU Permanent Mission to Turkey, and were invited to discuss the situation in the embassies of France, Germany and Denmark. The Turkish government did not respond to an invitation to a meeting.
Fred van Leeuwen, EI’s General Secretary, has expressed his solidarity with the Turkish educators and with the mission to the country saying that “the punitive measures taken by the Government against the Turkish education community not only violate human and trade union rights but also pose a threat to quality education for all. In the last months, we have repeatedly appealed on the Turkish government to rescind the unlawful measures and to respect their international commitments and obligations. We have also warned them about the negative effects this situation can have on the future of Turkish society.”
Education International will relaunch its solidarity fund with 65,000 euro in order to support Egitim Sen and individual teachers in their legal battle. The government’s attacks have been a strategic and heavy blow to the union, according to its leadership: of the 1,500 dismissed members of the union, 103 are were executive board members of the union in its different regions, and 16 general secretaries of local branches, among whom the current general secretary of Egitim Sen, Mesut Firat. The solidarity fund will cover their legal support for appeals and livelihood.
The latest efforts were supported and endorsed by EI’s Development Cooperation in January.