The CO-OPERATION CONTRACT BETWEEN ESTONIAN EDUCATION PERSONNEL UNION (EEPU) AND GERMAN EMPLOYEES´ ASSOCIATION (DBB)
The Agreement of The Government of Estonia, The Co-operation Union of The Local Authorities´ Association and Estonian Education Personnel Union Concerning The Minimum Rates of Salaries and Work-Related Warranties
The Co-operation Agreement Between Estonian Education Personnel Union, Estonian Student Council Union and The Federation of Estonian Student Unions
The Agreement Between TALO and The Government of Estonia Concerning the Reform of Salaries in 2001
The Co-operation Agreement Between EEPU And Estonian Teachers´ Association
The Co-operation Agreement Between TALO And Estonian Insurance
The Co-operation Agreement Between EEPU and The Federation of Estonian Student Unions Contracted In Order to Release the International Teachers´ Identity Card
The Co-operation Agreement Between TALO and The Office of Estonian Towns´ Union
The Co-operation Agreement Between Estonian Ministry of Education And Estonian Education Personnel Union

The CO-OPERATION CONTRACT BETWEEN ESTONIAN EDUCATION PERSONNEL UNION (EEPU) AND GERMAN EMPLOYEES´ ASSOCIATION (DBB) On January 21, 2002, Estonian Education Personnel Union and German Employees´ Association that includes education workers, signed a co-operation contract in Berlin.
The co-operational activities set forth by the contract are largely as follows:

carrying out events, seminars, discussions connected with additional schooling;

the exchange of experts and consultants;

the exchange of topical information, documents and experiences;

mutual official visits;

mutual actions of regulated activities over the social order in Europe;

developing contacts between EEPU´s and DBB´s teachers´ associations; organising and carrying out work-related missions
The Agreement of The Government of Estonia, The Co-operation Union of The Local Authorities´ Association and Estonian Education Personnel Union Concerning The Minimum Rates of Salaries and Work-Related Warranties
On January 5, 2001, the delegations of the Government of Estonia, the Co-operation Union of The Local Authorities´ Association and Estonian Education Personnel Union (EEPU) contracted an agreement concerning the minimal rates of salaries for teachers and work-related warranties for the year 2001. Prior to signing the agreement, various meetings took place, during which several problems concerning different points-of-view were solved. The proposals of some of the parties of the negotiations about the weekly work load of teachers, extending the general work hours and lessening the salaries of class teachers were resolutely rejected by EEPU´s delegation and these points were not considered at composing the agreement. EEPU submitted its proposals that had been talked over in county and town unions already in the beginning of October 2000. The agreement set forth the minimal rates of salaries for the qualifying basic school teachers owning higher education according to the rates of certifying the teachers since January 1, 2001, which are higher than in the year 2000 by 15%. The earlier situation in which the salaries of teachers were set forth by the national budget and the local authorities did not get to decide much over the salary issues, did not demand the latter to deal with these questions seriously. A suitable solution would be the contracting of respective collective agreements between EEPU´s member unions and the local authorities. The parties who contracted the national agreement considered the following important: to have the rates of salaries of the class teachers set forth by the Government of Estonia; they also submitted relevant suggestions. It was considered important that the class teachers would be paid extra according to their rate of office at least:
1. in special boarding schools for handicapped children and schools working in the evenings: 215 EEK for junior teachers, 230 EEK for teachers and 260 EEK for senior teachers. 315 EEK for teacher-specialists in methods.
2. in basic schools and secondary schools on the basic level: 645 EEK for junior teachers, 690 EEK for teachers, 785 EEK for senior teachers, 950 EEK for teacher-specialists in methods.
3. on the secondary level: 215 EEK for junior teachers, 230 EEK for teachers, 260 EEK for senior teachers and 315 EEK for teacher-specialists in methods.
The situation is more complex in schools that have not established trade unions. In that case it is not possible to contract collective agreements and the local authorities themselves decide how to act.
In counties it is recommended that before contracting agreements between schools and local authorities, an agreement be contracted between EEPU´ s county unions and local authorities, in which general principles would be set forth.
The Co-operation Agreement Between Estonian Education Personnel Union, Estonian Student Council Union and The Federation of Estonian Student Unions
The Federation of Estonian Student Unions is the roof organisation of the student organisations of the universities. The objective of the federation´s activities is to defend the interests of all the students in Estonia and to stand for their rights. The members of The Federation of Estonian Student Unions are student unions of higher education institutions. In their work, the federation communicates with executive organisations both on the level of students as well as the state and local authorities, and with political parties as well as other youth and student unions in Estonia and abroad. At the same time, the federation itself is an non-political organisation. Estonian Student Council Union is a non-formal roof organisations composed of regional sub-unions, which itself works as a sub-project of the foundation "The Development Center for Original Schools". The association is composed of 17 regional sub-unions, each of which unite three to seven schools. All in all the association unites a little over a hundred schools. The objective of Estonian Student Council Union is to unite the pupil organisations, to propagate their activities, to guarantee their continuing existence, to defend the rights of pupils, to represent pupils in state institutions as well as international organisations and to tighten the relationships between the young. In order to achieve its goals, ESCU organises schooling events, camps and other undertakings and takes part in several projects. ESCU has a web page http://www.escu.ee and they launch a newspaper called Õpilasteataja (Student Announcer). Estonian Education Personnel Union, Estonian Student Council Union and The Federation of Estonian Student Unions, wishing to carry out a public discussion in education matters and wishing to see the points of view of the students considered as well as to tighten their co-operation and improve the executing of their goals, contracted an agreement in Tallinn on August 21, 2000.
The Agreement Between TALO and The Government of Estonia Concerning the Reform of Salaries in 2001
The negotiations between TALO and the Government of Estonia, held in order to contract an agreement on the rates of salaries for the year 2001, started in May 2000. We did not get concrete answers concerning our proposal - to raise the salaries of intellectuals by 30% in 2001 - from the delegation of the Government of Estonia . Neither did we get answers concerning other proposals we made on reforming the salary regulations. Having analysed the proceedings of the negotiations, the Executive Board of TALO had to admit that there were no results and made the only decision possible in such a situation - to stop the negotiations and turn to the public conciliator to carry on the negotiations by the medium of him. On december 11, 2000, an agreement was signed that set forth the parties for the negotiations over the salary conditions proposed by TALO: the member organisations of TALO and the employers of its members. For example, on January 5, 2001, a contract was signed by Estonian Education Personnel Union, the delegation of the Government of Estonia and the representatives of local authorities over the minimal rates of the salaries of the teachers of municipal schools. As a result of intense negotiations we did not achieve the agreement on the regulation of salaries for the year 2001, but an important step forward is the Agreement signed by the medium of the public conciliator on December 11, 2000. The negotiations between the parties mentioned above concerning the salary issues of the year 2002 started in February 2001.
The Co-operation Agreement Between EEPU And Estonian Teachers´ Association
On November 27, 1999, Estonian Education Personnel Unions´s and Estonian Teachers´ Association´s representatives signed an agreement on developing co-operation. As both organisations deal with the interests of teachers, we can achieve more success and decrease the duplicating of each other´s activities through worked out collaboration. After all, part of EEPU´s members have actively taken part in ETA´s activities. Working out and executing the document that will have an impact on the further development of education in Estonia, "The Concept of of The Development of Estonian Education System" demands even more co-operation from EEPU and ETA in order to solve education-related problems.
The Co-operation Agreement Between TALO And Estonian Insurance
On contracting the agreement we are following the will of TALO to offer the members of its member organisations (including Estonian Education Personnel Union) a possibility to sign insurance contracts with advantages and we are also following the wish of Estonian Insurance to bring into people´s mind the role and importance of insurance in the society. In order to sign such a contract, the members of EEPU must present a valid membership card.
The Co-operation Agreement Between EEPU and The Federation of Estonian Student Unions Contracted In Order to Release the International Teachers´ Identity Card
According to the programme of Estonian Education Personnel Union, one of its objectives this year is to guarrantee additional advantages to its members. One of such oppurtunities is to organise the release of an international discount card to our members. In order to achieve that, Estonian Education Personnel Union and The Federation of Estonian Student Unions, who is authorised to release the International Teachers´ Identity Card (a discount card) in Estonia, contracted a respective agreement. According to international regulations, professors, teachers, nurses and other specialists working in education under Estonian Ministry of Education at least 18 hours a week and at least for a year are eligible to receive the card. The International Teacher Identity Card (ITIC) gives a possibility to get various discounts in Estonia and abroad (using transportation, visiting museums, exhibitions, theatres and other cultural institutions, eating out, shopping etc.). In order to get the cards, EEPU´s unions in counties and towns contract agreements with the representatives of The Federation of Estonian Student Unions. In order to get the cards for the members of an organisation or institution, the respective organisation´s shop stewart should turn to their county or town education personnel union. Feel free to ask for relevant information from EEPU´ s county or town unions or from EEPU, ph. 6419801, via e-mail: ehl@online.ee
The Co-operation Agreement Between TALO and The Office of Estonian Towns´ Union
On June 2, 1999, Estonian Employees´ Unions´ Association TALO (which Estonian Education Personnel Union is a member of ) and the Office of Estonian Towns´ Union signed an agreement of co-operation. The agreement concerns only the employees that belong to the member organisations of TALO. The institutions that are not members of TALO will be left out of the agreement. Why do we need the co-operation agreement? We see the contract as an expression of the will of both parties to contribute to a faster and even more stable development of the Republic of Estonia through one of the attributes of a democratic state, social dialogue. We must admit that this far, the development of the economic field has been much faster than that of the social field, if not interfering with the latter. This has brought up social tensions and contradictions, which we must not allow to deepen. Rather must we seek realistic solutions. Based on the widely recognised priciples of trade union movement, TALO has continuously sought to defend the rights of its members. Since its formation in 1992, the organisation has bargained with the government as the principle employer of its members. Besides having achieved fruitful agreements on the terms of salaries, the organisation has acquired a valuable experience of bargaining. All the members of TALO have felt the additional money in their wallets that has been fought for. But the achievements carry a smack of pepper. As it is known, the activities of trade unions are based on the principles of solidarity. So the employees who work at the institutions that have established TALO member organisations but who themselves are not members of trade unions, have got and will get a part of all the advantages that have been achieved. The ones who are not members of trade unions yet should consider joining an organisation that protects its members.
The Co-operation Agreement Between Estonian Ministry of Education And Estonian Education Personnel Union
On September 14, 1999, The Ministry of Education and Estonian Education Personnel Union signed a following co-operation agreement which concerns a variety of matters in which The Ministry and EEPU collaborate. According to point 3.1 of the agreement, The Ministry and EEPU organise a competition called "The Teacher of the Year" each year, connecting the latter with the World Teachers´ Day.