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Ecuador: Government threatens to shut down teachers' union
 | In partnership with the Education International, a global union federation of 396 associations and unions in 171 countries and territories, representing some 32.5 million educators and support professionals. |
The teachers' union UNE of Ecuador (Unión Nacional de Educadores) is facing the threat of being shut down as the Ministry of Education has initiated proceedings for the union's legal dissolution. According to UNE, the Ecuadorean government is seeking to dissolve the union in retaliation for the public statements made at the ILO Conference and the UN Human Rights Committee this year explaining, in detail and with evidence, how the government is systematically violating freedom of association. The government justifies the dissolution by the implementation of a specific regulation, Decree 16, which concerns the registration of non-profit organisations. However the Ministry of Labour had assured the ILO earlier this year that Decree 16 does not apply to trade unions. Education International and UNE call on you to urge the Minister of Education of Ecuador, Mr Augusto Espinosa Andrade, to halt the legal proceedings against the teachers' union and to respect the fundamental rights of the education employees and their organisations.
