A series of pickets across the UK and Ireland, organised by the TEFL Workers’ Union, led to compensation for an English teacher who was dismissed abruptly from her role as an online teacher for the British Council last March.
Lara, the teacher, was employed by the Impellam Group employment agency. Despite positive feedback during her time there, she was not told the reason for her dismissal.
According to Gabriella Cioce, the lead rep on the case:
“It takes courage to raise issues when you feel you’ve been mistreated at work, especially as an agency worker. Lara is to be commended for staying strong for the months it took to bring these matters to a successful conclusion. We’re proud of Lara for standing up for a better TEFL industry.”
Dr Cioce continued,
“Precarious work is an issue across language teaching and especially within online teaching. When combined with employment through an agency, teachers are often left at the whims of capricious and exploitative employers. This is why it’s so important to be a member of a union.”
The union reached out to Impellam and the British Council seeking reinstatement and back pay. When this failed, pickets took place at Impellam’s London headquarters and at offices in Sheffield and Belfast. The union also organised a phone-in campaign to Impellam’s call centre and actions targeting the social media accounts of the British Council and Impellam.
According to Tom Liebewitz, chairperson of the TEFL Workers’ Union steering committee:
“We gave Impellam the opportunity to resolve this without the need for a public campaign. When good faith attempts at negotiation failed, we were left with no other option than to get out in the streets.”
Mr. Liebewitz added,
“Our understanding is that the British Council is moving a significant portion of their UK-based English teaching work to Comensura, a subsidiary of the Impellam group. The British Council must understand they can’t hide behind employment agencies. We’re here to hold them to account.”
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