Carta da Internacional de Educação (IE)
dirigida à Ministra da Educação do Governo português
24 de Junho de 2005
Education International (EI), representing over 29 million teachers and other education workers, through 348 member organizations in 166 countries and territories, has FENPROF and FNE as member organisations.
EI is following the arguments with concern, used by your Minister to question the right to strike in the Education sector.
Over time, the supervisory bodies of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) have brought greater precision to the concept of essential services in the strict sense of the term. In 1983, the Committee of Experts defined such services as "the interruption of which endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population". This definition was adopted by the Commission on Freedom of Association shortly afterwards. The Committee has specifically excluded the Education sector from the list of essential services where the right to strike may be subject to some restrictions. Therefore the reply from your Government to the joint statement of FNE and FENPROF calling for a strike is not in line with the commitments that
Education International urges your Minister to build on its relationship with the education trade unions in an open and democratic social dialogue.
EI expresses its solidarity with Portuguese teachers and education personnel and will continue monitoring the situation.
Yours sincerely,
Fred van Leeuwen
General Secretary