ACT NOW: Tell Bahrain to free Mahdi

It was decided at the appeal hearing on 2 April, to postpone the decision about Mahdi Abu Dheeb’s release until the 2 May. The Supreme Criminal Appeals Court on 2nd May has adjourned the case again to 30 May and refused to release Mahdi on bail once more. Sign the BTA's petition and keep up the pressure on Bahraini authorities to release Mahdi in view of the next appeal hearing on 30th May.

Click here to sign the urgent action appeal from Education International & LabourStart to free Mahdi 'Issa Mahdi Abu Dheeb president of the Bahraini Teachers' Association. Mahdi's health is rapidly deteriorating & the authorities have refused him access to medical treatment. He was unjustly jailed for ten years for his trade union activites.

Play Fair 2012 Campaign

The NUT supports the Playfair 2012 coalition campaigning for a Sweat-Free Olympics. The coalition campaigns to ensure that the London 2012 Olympic games raise the bar on Workers’ Rights. Read more about the campaign via www.playfair2012.org

In response to the evidence of exploitation of workers producing goods for London 2012, detailed in the new report Toying with Workers’ Rights (Play Fair 2012) the organisers of the London Games have signed an agreement with the Playfair 2012 campaign to protect the rights of workers in its supply chains. To see the report & agreement click here.

Playfair 2012 has just launched a new report titled Fair Games? The Fair Games? report investigated working conditions in 10 sportswear factories in China, Sri Lanka and the Philippines where they produced sportswear that will be bought by consumers and used by athletes and volunteers at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Read Fair Games? here.

Visit here today and take action by telling the brands featured in the Fair Games? report that they must face up to the reality of rights in their supply chains and commit to raise the bar on workers’ rights.

ACT NOW! Free Iranian trade unionists

Join Amnesty International's call to release jailed Iranian trade unionist Reza Shahabi, currently serving a six-year prison sentence, as well as to clarify the whereabouts of Zabihollah Bagheri and provide access to his family and his lawyer.

World Day against Child Labour

‘One hour against child labour’ is an educational and interactive campaign material to be used to undertake activities around child labour issues. Support World Day against Child Labour on June 12 by going to go www.ei-ie.org/childlabour for more information and to download your free campaign kit.

Support Justice for Workers of Cali

A Colombian labour law case from 2004 is still causing suffering to trade unionists & a court ruling to reinstate 51 workers who were fired for belonging to the SINTRAEMCALI trade union has still not been applied. Union members have also received death threats. Support justice for workers of Cali and send a message to the Colombian government now!

Unite for Syria: Stop One Year of Bloodshed

March 15th will be the year anniversary of the violence in Syria. On the day, Crisis Action is coordinating a series of activities to mobilise a global outcry of expert voices, NGOs and activists. As part of this, an online campaign is being run, you can join the campaign here.

Tell the UN to monitor human rights in Western Sahara

In 2010 Foreign Secretary William Hague told the Western Sahara Campaign he supported human rights monitoring by MINURSO. All main political parties echoed this yet each year the UK allows MINURSO’s mandate to be renewed without monitoring. Urge your MP to write to the Foreign Secretary to tell him to keep his promise when it is renewed in April.

Education in Crisis: Together we will "Stand with Wisconsin" One year after Wisconsin's governor Scott Walker tried to wrest union rights from workers, the tide has turned, and over two million signatures have been gathered to recall Walker. Visit http://www.standwisconsin.org/ for more information and to support teachers and all other workers in their plight for union rights!

IRAN: Stop the execution of Iranian teacher Abdolreza Ghanbari

Abdolreaza Ghanbari a school teacher & university professor has been sentenced to death without a fair trial. He was beaten & forcibly made to confess to unproven charges against himself. A request for pardon made to the Commission of Justice in Tehran was rejected this week. Send a message to the Iranian authorities to condemn this death sentence.

European Financial Transaction Tax

On 13 March the EU Finance Ministers will decide on the future of the EU FTT. Success depends on the will of the Finance Ministers of the Member States who debate the FTT in the Council of the EU. The proposal will only be implemented if all Member States agree. Send a message to the politicians urging them to speak out in favour of a European FTT

Available resources for the Financial Transaction Tax campaign can be found at:

• all supporters resources (FAQs, lobby packs supportive quotes documents) are in the blog
• all posters and leaflets

Please write to your MP to keep the pressure on party leaders.

Egypt: Drop the charges against Kamal Abbas

On 26 Feb a Misdemeanour court in Helwan sentenced Kamal Abbas, the general coordinator for CTUWS, in absentia, to six months imprisonment for “insulting a public officer” during the 2011 International Labour Conference in Geneva where he was a representative on the ITUC delegation. Take part in this campaign by sending a message to pressure the Egyptian authorities to immediately withdraw all charges.

Turkey: Condemn the arrests of female union officers

On 13 Feb in Ankara, 15 women union leaders were dragged from their bed and taken into custody. The union offices and personal computers were also searched. The General Secretary has written to the Prime Minister and President in Turkey to protest against the harrassment and intimidation of those arrested. To view the letter to Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan click here. To view the letter to Mr Abdullah Gul click here.

Send my Friend to School

The NUT was very proud to support the wonderful Send My Sister to School exhibition in the House of Commons early this year. The exhibition celebrated the efforts of the half a million children in schools up and down the country who took part in last year's campaign, reminding world leaders of their goal of getting all children in school by 2015. Many MPs visited the exhibition and pledged their further support for the Olympic themed 'Go for Gold' campaign in 2012.

The 2012 Send My Friend to School campaign hopes to harness Olympic fever. As athletes flock to London to test their abilities in hundreds of sporting events, the opportunity will be taken to reflect on another race, the Great Global Education Race 2000-2015.

In 2000 over 140 million children were out of school and the Great Global Education Race got off to a good start. Millions of children in Africa, Asia and Latin America went to school for the first time. But the number of children out of school has stayed stubbornly at 67 million for 2 years now, with only 3 years to the finishing line. Now is the time to remind world leaders of their promise and urge them to go for gold.

The NUT is a major supporter of the Global Campaign for Education (GCE), a coalition of charities and teacher unions which organises the Send My Friend to School campaign each year.

To find out more about how to get your school involved and receive a free resource pack visit www.sendmyfriend.org

The struggle to finish school in Malawi

Malawi is ranked as one of the world’s 20 least developed countries and ¾ of the population live on less than $2 a day. Eilidh Naismith and Billy Davidson – winners of the Steve Sinnott award for young campaigners - travelled to Malawi with ActionAid and the Guardian photographer Graeme Robertson to investigate barriers to education for children. To read about their experiences please see the links below.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/mar/12/education-school-malawi-girls-millennium

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/audioslideshow/2012/mar/12/portraits-of-malawi-audio-slideshow

http://www.sendmyfriend.org/news/malawi2012

Unjust prison sentence on trade union activists in Turkey

A letter from Christine Blower, General Secretary to the Prime Minister of Turkey regarding the 25 Turkish trade unionists, members of EGITIM Sen-KESK, who had prison sentences imposed by the Turkish courts for engaging in what would be regarded elsewhere as legitimate trade union activities, can be read here.

Justice for Colombia's Peace Campaign

Recent events in Colombia have underlined the urgent need for international pressure to push the Colombian government to enter into negotiations with the guerrillas to achieve social justice, peace & genuine democracy. EDM 2276 on human rights was submitted. Please click here for more information and to write to your MP urging them to sign the EDM.

Jubilee Time Capsule 2012 marks the Diamond Jubilee of HM Queen Elizabeth II. The Jubilee Time Capsule will tell the story of the last sixty years. Help build a social archive about life in the Commonwealth over the last sixty years by joining now at http://www.jubileetimecapsule.org/ and telling your story to go in the capsule!

Violence Against Women Day Petition

The TUC has launched a petition calling on the UK Government to sign up to the Council of Europe convention to combat violence against women and domestic violence and will be encouraging trade union movements in other European countries which have not signed the convention to press their Governments. Please click here to sign the TUC petition.

Release of Palestinian Child Detainees

A deal has been made to release Palestinian prisoners in 2 stages in exchange for freeing an Israeli soldier. No children will be released at the 1st stage & it can’t be confirmed if any will be released at the 2nd stage. For more information & to send an appeal urging the Israeli authorities to release all detained Palestinian children click here.

Cycle Africa

The National Union of Teachers is proud to support Cycle Africa in its ‘journey with a purpose’. Join the NUT in supporting Cycle Africa and help make a difference in the lives of street children in Africa http://www.cycleafrica.org/getinvolved

VSO Valuing Teachers Campaign and Volunteer Opportunities

The NUT supports VSO’s campaign which researches what teachers feel about their profession: what motivates them and what helps them perform well. The aim is to inform policy-making and implementation at national and international levels. VSO is currently looking for experienced educationalists to help with this work for 1-2 years in countries across Africa, Asia, the Pacific and the Caribbean.

http://www.vsointernational.org/volunteer/find-out-more.asp

http://www.vsointernational.org/what-we-do/advocacy/campaigns/valuing-teachers.asp

The Steve Sinnott Foundation

The Steve Sinnott foundation, established in the name of former NUT General Secretary, is dedicated towards the pursuit of Steve’s passion and support for the UN Millennium Development Goal 2; the achievement, by 2015 of universal primary education for all children around the world.

http://www.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk/display/ABOUT/Welcome

World Education Blog

The World Education Blog is hosted by the Global Monitoring Report (GMR) team. The Blog follows events and issues on education by raising fundamental questions about ‘Education for All’ and presents an analysis of the GMR financing gap. Access the blog via http://efareport.wordpress.com/

Global Campaign for Education

The Global Campaign for Education promotes education as a basic human right, and mobilizes public pressure on governments and the international community to fulfil their promises to provide free, compulsory public basic education for all people; in particular for children, women and all disadvantaged, deprived sections of society. http://www.campaignforeducation.org/

Trade Justice Movement

The Trade Justice Movement is a fast growing group of organisations including trade unions, aid agencies, environment and human rights campaigns, fair-trade organisations, faith and consumer groups. http://www.tjm.org.uk/

No Sweat

No Sweat is an activist, campaigning organisation, fighting sweatshop bosses, in solidarity with workers, worldwide. No Sweat stands for workers' solidarity. http://www.nosweat.org.uk/