Job Discussion Forums

Robski · Joined: 18 Feb 2007 Posts: 50 Location: Middle Europe

Not very long ago all the waiters in Paris went on strike for better pay and conditions. Interesting when you think that they (probably) all worked for private cafe owners who paid their staff independently in an otherwise ununionised industry. Perhaps we all need to decide on a day in the not too distant future where all EFL, ESL, ESOL and other teachers take a day and have a damn good strike - yeah. There is not TEFL union and no one to represent our interests other then ourselves. And it's not good standing your ground for better pay and conditions if some other desperate TEFLer is willing to come in and work for even fewer peanuts than you. But what if all TEFLers stood together on one day and said: 'This pay is crap!' ?

Who's up for a strike, then?

Kootvela · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 513 Location: Lithuania

State school teachers in Lithuania have been on regular mini strikes for the past several months. They say they will continue with longer ones plus boycott state exams should their pay and working conditions stay the same bad.

I'll wait and see how it goes, maybe soon I'll take up a job in a regular state school with better pay. Better conditions will have to wait...presumably, until ugly schools are knocked down and rebuilt anew.

lolwhites · Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 158 Location: France

Having a strike in the UK requires all kinds of hoops to be jumped through. A recognised union needs to formally register a dispute in writing, organise a secret postal ballot, tell the employer how many people in each department are being balloted (they don't have to provide names any more, thank goodness!) win it (obviously) and give seven days notice that industrial action will take place. So, if there's no union in your workplace, your employer canb sack you with impunity if you go on unofficial strike.

It's not just a matter of one union standing up for EFL teachers by saying "Everyone out!". The first thing that has to happen is for enough people in a school to join a union (UCU would probably be a good start, they've highlighed the situation in EFL before). Then the employer legally has to hold a ballot on union recognition.

It seems like a daunting task but it can be done with sufficient perseverance.

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

Yes, I think I agree. Trying to get consensus amongst as many TEFLs as possible about the best union to join, joining, then think about flexing such muscle as is available. With regards to striking: immediate strikes tend to lose public support. Consider also the old chess adage: the threat is greater than the execution...

stillnosheep · Joined: 01 Mar 2004 Posts: 2068 Location: eslcafe

Unfortunately UCU only seems to represent lecturers (including EFL teachers) at Colleges and Universities. Does anyone know which Union is better for EFL teachers at private language schools?

Robski · Joined: 18 Feb 2007 Posts: 50 Location: Middle Europe

Ahhh, but perhaps there's another way: All we have to do is decide on a day and all phone in sick. Let's face it, in this business most TEFL employers can sack you at a moments notice anyway. Personally I think I'd rather push trolleys at ASDA than do this anymore.

lolwhites · Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 158 Location: France

UCU is mainly for university and college teachers, though one of its forerunners, NATFHE, did raise the issue of private language schools in its paper The Lecturer.

If enough people from private language schools joined up, maybe UCU would be able to set up a section in the same was as it has separate departments for with FE and HE. I think that has more potential than joining a huge "general" union like the GMB, or trying to set one up from scratch.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

GMB used to have a section for EFL teachers in private language schools. Maybe they still have.

Russell Hadd · Joined: 06 May 2004 Posts: 181

The UCU is currently campaigning on two fronts in areas relevant to this board. The removal of Government funding in the ESOL sector is one area while the other is the privitisation of EAP in HE. This privitisation seems to be getting popular with INTO and SGI two of the companies who are taking over English language centres and re-hiring lecturers on lower grades. I'm not sure how many universites have gone down this route but it's certainly in double figures.

Red and white · Joined: 30 Sep 2007 Posts: 63

But who is actually hurt by a strike among ESOL teachers, especially at private schools?

Individual schools would be unable to fulfill their classes, lose students etc. But they would then have less money with which to not pay us, or go out of business and be unable to offer work at all. Not exactly a resounding triumph.

Individual students would miss out on classes, and may decide that going private is the way forward. This could help in the short term - students will tend to be loyal to a teacher rather than a school, but doesn't solve the main problem.

So what about the rest of the world. When tube drivers strike everyone in London notices. If ESOL teachers strike, will any native English speaker engaged in any non-teaching role even notice? I doubt it. Not much chance for public support, then.

Unlike the mainstream education sector, which is largely identified as a 'Good Thing' (or at least a necessary expense), ESOL and related sectors are entirely marginal to life in the UK. So I'm not convinced a strike will make any positive difference.

Phil_b · Joined: 14 Oct 2003 Posts: 239 Location: Back in London

lolwhites · Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 158 Location: France

Red and white · Joined: 30 Sep 2007 Posts: 63

Fear of losing teachers may persuade schools to negotiate? That would be because most schools value staff retention and turnover in the industry is astonishinly low, then. /sarcasm/

And would the cowboy schools go under, or merely recruit new victims on poor terms? If people weren't willing to work for cowboys (even if it's a new set of mugs each month), cowboys would disappear pretty fast.

A strike at an individual school would have negligible impact, even if it could be arranged legally. An industry-wide strike would hurt the good schools as much as (perhaps more than) the bad. Looks like a lose-lose situation to me.

lolwhites · Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 158 Location: France

Firstly, they may not be afraid of losing staff, but they would certainly be afraid of losing students if they were forced to cancel classes. Secondly, if the strike is official, the school can't simply replace its staff for going on strike. Thirdly, some setups can't just recruit new staff at the drop of a hat e.g. residential summer schools.