ESL Union

[Captain Swing]

Hi,

Because of the precarious and transient nature of much EFL work, some members of the Education Workers Industrial Union of the IWW are in the process of setting up a network of people who wish to build an active, fighting international union in this sector. If you'd like to know more about this project, then our website is at
http://www.ewiu-international.org and our newsblog is at http://www.ewiu620.wordpress.com

It'd be good to hear about people's pay, terms and conditions, and what kind of contract they have. For example, one of our members was once issued with a contract in Germany that started with the words, "THIS IS NOT A CONTRACT!"

Another worked for an EFL firm in central London, where relations between management and staff were lousy. All the teachers were "self-employed", which was just a way of management not meeting their obligations towards their employees - and was a very dodgy and unlawful definition of "self-employed" anyway. I suspect this kind of practice is not uncommon in some of the cowboy EFL institutes in the UK and elsewhere.

Another member worked at a Greek frontistirio and was fairly isolated as the school was well off the beaten track; the conditions were pretty appalling and harassment from the owner was the order of the day... until a little impromptu direct industrial action greatly improved the situation there.

It would also be good to hear what people think a union could achieve for EFL teachers and related workers. What issues do people think are the most pressing?

I look forward to any responses on this.

Rob

[Lorikeet]

I wish you luck on your endeavors. I am lucky enough to work in a college that has been under collective bargaining since 1976. It was a struggle in the early years, but now the Union is strong and respected, and the wages and working conditions of the faculty have improved; in fact, I venture to say you cannot find a better contract for part-time faculty anywhere. The bargaining unit includes both part-time and full-time faculty. As a former Union president as well, I understand the difficulties of organizing faculty, who too often think it's "not professional." I think it would be very difficult to do it with an international scope as well. Best wishes.

[Captain Swing]

Thanks for your well wishes, Lorikeet! I also teach ESOL in a unionised FE college, but I've worked in a fair few non-unionised places both in the UK and abroad... and I know which I'd rather have. Yes, it's not an easy thing to do internationally and that's why, for now, the emphasis is firmly on building a network of ESL people who are keen to eventually organise union branches in their respective workplaces, wherever they may be.

Because many of us are often 'strangers in strange land' who may not know the ropes in the country we're working in, and are often isolated from other workers in those countries, then building a union in this predominantly non-unionised sector could be extremely beneficial to all concerned. At the minute, ESL teachers are wide open to being ripped off left, right and centre by unscrupulous employers. We'd like to help ensure that the chances of this kind of thing happening are minimised.

[monkusfishwife]

This is a really good idea. I have discussed it with a former colleague as we got shafted on numerous issues last year, despite working for International House. There are just too many vague statements on contracts and employers are more than happy to treat their employees like animals.

While we did have a 'teacher's rep' last year, this was little more than a joke, as the DOS would send senior staff into meetings to act as a mole. When we were asked to complete anonymous questionnaires about the DOS and the school, when she was confronted with the appalling results she demanded the original copies from the Teacher's rep so that she could single out the people who were prepared to stand up for themselves and their rights.

For those interested, the school was IH Bielsko-Biala in Poland and the DOS has now left.

[Eric18]

This organizing effort identifies a real problem and sounds like a good idea. Alas, the reality of the current global economy makes this proposal sound rather utopian.

And utopian thought doesn't have the best track record in the last 100 years.