The 7th Education International (EI) World Congress meeting in Ottawa, Canada, from 21nd to 26th July 2015:
Noting with concern that:
1. In June 2015, the International Trade Union Confederation in its ‘Global Rights Index’ ranked Iran as one of the world’s worst countries for workers.
2. The Iranian authorities continue to silence the voices of teachers and trade unionists.
3. In June 2015, Esmael Abdi, General Secretary of the Iranian Teacher Trade Association (ITTA) was imprisoned by the Iranian authorities whilst seeking to make arrangements to attend the 7th World Congress of Education International.
4. Five other teacher unionists - Ali Akbar Baghani, Rasould Bodaghi, Mahmoud Bagheri (all three board members of the Tehran Teachers Trade Association), Alireza Hashemi and Alireza Ghanbari - are also languishing in the Iranian prisons.
Welcoming:
5. The response of Education International in making representations on behalf of teacher trade unionists in Iran.
6. The actions of Education International’s affiliates in demonstrating solidarity with Iranian colleagues.
7. The solidarity actions taken at the 7th World Congress of Education International, together with parallel efforts by LabourStart.
The 7th World Congress commits Education International:
8. To continue to campaign to secure the rights of teachers and trade unionists in Iran.
9. To call on the Iranian authorities to commit to respecting fully international labour standards.
10. To continue to mobilise member organisations to campaign to secure the release from prison of those Iranian teacher trade unionists who have been imprisoned unjustly.