FEATU stands for The Federation of East African Teachers’ Unions. It is a regional labour organisation of free, autonomous and democratic teachers’ unions from member states of the East African Community (EAC). Currently, FEATU has seven affiliates, all affiliated to the global union Education International (EI) and confederation of all teachers’ unions in the world. FEATU is legally registered in Tanzania with a constitution, rules (by-laws) recognised by the government of Tanzania. The organisation consists of a Secretariat, a Technical Committee (TC) and an Executive Council (EC).
The establishment of FEATU was influenced by the establishment of the East African Community (EAC) with a treaty signed in 1999 but entered into force in 2000 followed by the Common Market Protocol which came into force in 2010. The EAC concerns include education development and labour matters. Teachers labour matters in the region form part of the general labour concerns at the EAC. In that regard, FEATU is seeking an observer status at the EAC on education development and teachers’ matters.