A staff member at Brighton EF has been banned from wearing a Palestine solidarity badge, despite legal protections to do so. The union is now escalating this to a public campaign. Read on to find out how EF has allowed it to reach this point.
Approximately a month ago, a staff member at Brighton EF chose to wear a small badge to work that stated “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free”.
She did this, in her own words, to demonstrate her “solidarity with Palestine and humanist belief in the liberation of all peoples.”
She wore the badge for weeks without issue. This was not surprising as many of her colleagues also wore badges in support of LGBTQ rights and Ukraine.
Some time later, however, her manager asked her to take it off because, it was claimed, the badge had made a student uncomfortable. The manager offered further explanation that EF employees cannot be political during work. The same manager said she would notify all staff of the company’s apolitical nature that day; however, she neglected to do so.
The evening after this interaction, the worker became increasingly distressed about the situation and decided to pursue the matter with management. She met with the school director the next day and, during the meeting, the apolitical justification was reiterated. The worker, on the other hand, explained that the situation had left her feeling harassed as her dignity had been attacked. In a word, she felt targeted.
The meeting ended with the director admitting his limited understanding of the situation in Palestine, thus, inability to continue this conversation. It was agreed that the worker could bring the situation to the attention of higher management if she chose. Despite this, the manager came back to the employee two days later with a new dress code policy that included the stipulation “no slogans”. Her badge had been banned.
Unsurprisingly, this left the worker feeling confused, defeated and, again, targeted. The situation was unjust. She still believed she deserved the opportunity to show solidarity with Palestine in the way she desires and had the right to demonstrate her philosophical humanist beliefs.
She also didn’t accept that EF was an apolitical company or an apolitical workplace. Just because EF uses the veneer of apoliticism to avoid acknowledging genocide does not mean employees have to.
Without any clear avenue of what to do next, she contacted the TEFL Workers’ Union for support. We helped her escalate the situation by taking out a grievance. This led to an investigation and a hearing. Sadly, EF failed to take into account the many legal and moral arguments put forward by the worker and her union representative and the grievance was dismissed.
But, the fight for justice does not end at internal procedures. We’re here to let EF know that no school gets to place their revenue above ethics. We demand the right to free speech in the workplace. We demand that ELT workers be able to express their solidarity with any expressed or exploited group, including Palestinians. We won’t stand for hypocrisy and we won’t stand for our members being targeted for their beliefs.
Actions are planned to demand justice for this worker and to send a message to EF – and the entire ELT industry – that this union won’t tolerate staff being victimised for standing up and speaking out.
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