The following was written by a former TEFL teacher turned cycle instructor. The TEFL Workers Union sends our fullest solidarity to the IWGB couriers. We encourage our members to donate to their strike fund if they can.
At first sight the world of chains, gears and brakes might have little in common with that of adjectives, nouns and idioms, but there’s more linking cycling instructors and mechanics, and TEFL teachers than you might think.
Both groups fall within the self-employed/zero hours contract/gig economy category. English tutors are hired as sessional tutors (a fancy, misleading name that hides the fact that if one’s course is cancelled the tutor will find themselves with no work). Cycling instructors and mechanics operate in a similar way. Most contracts for cycle training with local authorities are won by one or two providers. That means that the only work coming our way already has strings attached. Both groups, cycling instructors/mechanics and TEFL teachers are dependent on a market that closes ranks when it’s inconvenient to address pay rises.
That’s why we’re striking today, Friday 30th June. The money to raise our pay is there. It was delivered by Will Norman, London’s cycling and walking commissioner, earlier this year. The response from both local authorities and training providers was a paltry and insulting 5% increase, 90p.
If you can spare it, please considering donating to the IWGB hardship fund. The money will be used to support these courageous workers as they struggle for dignity, justice, and a voice on the job.
https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/iwgb-cib-strike-fund
“Without our brain and muscle, not a single wheel can turn” is a line from Solidarity Forever, a song written by IWW member Ralph Chaplin in 1915. It has since become the one of the international hymns of the labour movement, sung by trade unionists the world over.