Malvern House teachers form union, ballot for strike action

The Industrial Workers of the World’s Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) Workers’ Union has gained serious traction in an otherwise privatized, non-union sector of the UK’s education industry. While it of course speaks to the talents of the union’s organizers, it also signals a growing interest in more militant, revolutionary forms of unionism on the part of the working class in the Global North.

By Ryan

Teachers at Malvern House London have been organising since a new management team was brought in, a change that has resulted in a worsening of the relationship between staff and the school.

According to Jeffrey Zedic, one of the teachers:

“After years of feeling undervalued and not listened to, we felt we needed the union to help us get more of what we’ve earned! It’s amazing to see how united we’ve become. It restores hope!”

With all year-round teachers members of the union, the teachers put in a request for union recognition on August 12th. Alongside the request for collective bargaining, teachers are asking for:

• The reinstatement of a popular teacher who dismissed after disciplinary process the teachers and the union believe to be unfair
• The removal of a contract clause requiring them to be at work, unpaid, before their lessons begin
• Paid admin and prep time
• A negotiated policy on lay-offs and short-term working
• The abolition of zero-hours arrangements for any teacher who requests it

As management failed to provide a date for good-faith negotiations, a strike ballot has been organised.

One of the Malvern House teachers summed it up like this:

“We are no longer willing to tolerate the disregard for the needs and views of teaching staff and the impact this has on our students.”

According to Tom Liebewitz, the lead organiser for the TEFL Workers’ Union:

“Malvern House is a profitable school whose success is down to the dedication of its teachers, some of whom have been there nearly two decades. But instead of rewarding this, Malvern House is turning the screws on working conditions and staff wellbeing. That ends now.”

Simon Kelly, another teacher added:

“It’s important we stand together! They can’t get away with treating people so unfairly!”

This is the second London English school to ballot for strike action this summer, following EC English London Teachers in June. With the increasing awareness of employee rights and the desire to make a change, the interest in industrial action within the TEFL industry is likely to continue growing unless employers across the industry are willing to make major changes.