Bargaining Update

Education First

After two years of negotiations, English-as-a-second-language teachers at EF Education First in Brighton, MA, members of TNG-CWA local 31245, voted unanimously this week to ratify a first-ever contract with the company providing improvements in pay, a path to full-time employment, scheduling, disciplinary processes, and more.

EF is one of the world's largest education companies with 46,500 employees in 116 countries, but the 24 EF teachers in Brighton are the first U.S.-based employees to organize at the company. Their success may pave the way for more U.S.-based EF employees to gain workplace representation.

The Boston Globe featured a story on the teachers' fight for a fair contract:

The local starting rate for teachers at EF is $26-$29 per 80-minute class, plus $3.50 for 15 minutes of prep time, according to the teachers. They aren’t paid for the 10-minute breaks between classes, which are frequently filled with questions from students, or for the additional time it takes to grade papers, create tests, answer e-mails, or make photocopies. Teachers who work a full schedule start off making roughly $33,000 to $37,000 a year, with no pay during six weeks of school break, though they do get paid holidays. Some have second jobs as bartenders, tutors, or Uber drivers to make ends meet.

Read the full story here.