schools
News and articles about work, policy and workers' and students' struggles in education around the world.
Mexico: Morelos teachers' strike continues with national support
Schoolteachers in the state of Morelos today complete their 48th day of an indefinite strike against proposed a educational reform being forced through by their union leader which would remove their job security. Yesterday their march was joined by other teachers from around the country.
As well as striking, the teachers - from Sección 19 of the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores para la Educación (SNTE) - have established a plantón (permanent encampment) in the city of Cuernavaca and also have employed motorway blockades, the "liberation" of tollbooths and even marched 85km north to Mexico City in order to demand the reform's reversal.
Learning to live, teaching to fail
This article first appeared in Direct Action No12, Autumn, 1999, the quarterly magazine of the Solidarity Federation analysing the formation of the modern school and arguing for a libertarian alternative.
The modern school is a crucial instrument for maintaining and justifying continued hierarchy and privilege in today's society. But that doesn't mean we should reject the idea of schools as centres of learning.
Pay strikes brewing in education and construction
The past few days have seen teachers set to vote again on strike action in an ongoing dispute over a sub-inflation pay offer while thousands of carpenters, bricklayers, painters, joiners and labourers employed by local authorities voted in favour of industrial action for the same reason.
Executive members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) unanimously voted to proceed with a formal ballot at a meeting on Friday 5th September.
Half a million council workers strike over pay
Local government workers across England, Northern Ireland and Wales struck for two days alongside civil servants against sub-inflation pay rises.
More than 500,000 workers were on strike on July 16 and 17, bringing disruption to schools, town halls, refuse collections and libraries throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
"This has been a fantastic response from our members," said UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis. "Local government workers have shown their anger and resentment towards this pay offer.
Oaxacan teachers reach agreement with their union and local government
Sección 22, the radical Oaxacan section of the Latin American education workers' union Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores en la Educación (SNTE), has finally signed deals with both the SNTE hierarchy and Oaxacan local government. However, the strike will continue until this weekend.
The strike (previously reported on Libcom here and here), a contrast of almost blanket support from union members and almost blanket condemnation
Mexico: teachers' strike spreads up the Pacific coast while Oaxaca cautiously holds firm
The annual teachers' strike in Oaxaca has been bolstered by soldarity strikes of other sections of the Sindicato Nacional de los Trabajadores en la Educación (SNTE) stretching up and down the Mexican Pacific coastline, while in Oaxaca itself, occupations and blockades continue apace in support. Most analysts however have already doomed the strike to failure.
On Friday 30th, the strike by the Oaxacan SNTE local (Sección 22, around whose strike coalesced the 2006 revolt) entered its 12th day, with more motorways blocked, more tollbooths closed down and more education buildings occupied throughout the state.
Oaxaca in revolt again: the Zócalo reoccupied, motorway tollbooths "liberated", roads blockaded
![Oaxacan teachers occupy the city's [i]Zócalo[/i]](http://libcom.org./files/imagecache/teaser/images/news/oaxacamaestros.jpg)
A 21 day series of strikes and occupations by the radical Sección 22 in Oaxaca of the Mexican teachers' union Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores en la Educación kicked off in earnest on Tuesday. As of Thursday, the strike appears to be spreading - with popular support, solidarity and an increasing volume of activity.
The teachers' strike has various demands, although it's mostly calling for the freedom for all political prisoners, an end to the arrest orders and ongoing intimidation by the judicial authorities against the movement, new elections within the SNTE, and the handing over of all Oaxacan schools controlled by the pro-government Sección 59.
Council workers to vote on action
UNISON members in local government in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will vote on strike action to begin in July, while teachers discuss co-ordinated action.
UNISON members were given the green light for a ballot on industrial action after rejecting the pay offer from employers.
The offer is below the current inflation rate of 4.2% and less that the increase in average earnings across the economy.
Council workers to ballot for strike action
UNISON members working in local government in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have been given the green light for a ballot on industrial action after rejecting the pay offer from employers.
The offer is for a 2.45% increase, with an additional £100 flat rate increase on the very lowest three scale points.
Further education unions reject pay offer
Further education unions have rejected a below-inflation pay offer proposed by employers at talks today (May 6th).
Six unions representing 250,000 members working in colleges across England in jobs such as cleaning, catering and admin as well as professional roles are seeking a pay rise of 6% or £1,500 - whichever is the greater - to guarantee the lowest-paid workers a minimum wage of £7.38. However, employers have come back with an offer of 2.5%.
