Page 7 - ELG2003 Mar Issue 469

El•Gazette 469.qxp_El•Gazette 469 25/02/2020 21:50 Page 7

NEWS

London teachers get payout after direct action

by Matt Salusbury and issue of the Gazette, has been
Melanie Butler under increasing financial
pressure in the last two or three MATT SALUSBURY
A group of EFL teachers at a years (see market analysis on page
Central London language school 12).
who were made redundant on 20 Delfin re-opened in January,
December have won an using classrooms temporarily
“enhanced redundancy package,” rented in another Bloomsbury
following direct action. language school. The Gazette
This kind of settlement is, understands that the school is
“virtually unheard of in the using temporary staff from
language teaching industry,” employment agency Evocation
according to Anna Clark, EFL to teach at the school.
speaking for the TEFL Workers On 14 January, the Gazette
Union, which has represented attended a picket by some of the
teachers at the London branch of Delfin teachers and their
the Delfin School of English since supporters outside the South
2018. TEFL Workers Union is a London offices of Evocation EFL.
branch of the Industrial Workers Banners on display at the picket
of the World union. bore the words “Evocation drop
Following a redundancy Delfin”.
process, a total of nine teachers, At the picket, one teacher
eight of them represented by the described to those present how
union, were made redundant on everyone assumed TEFL teachers
20 December, the day before the were on a gap year. “I’m 60,” he
school closed for Christmas. said, and despite being
According to the union, this “ridiculously qualified,” still “one
represented all the teachers rung up from McDonald’s” in Protesters outside the South London offices of Evocation EFL
employed by the school. It is not terms of pay and status.
clear whether any agency teachers Evocation told the Gazette that consider that we are a party to it The Gazette is given to
were working at the school at that they had supplied teachers to in any way,” he added. understand BSC management,
date. Delfin since 2012 and, “have The previous day, former Delfin “met with the protesters before
Reasons given for teacher worked with them more teachers demonstrated outside the contacting Delfin management
redundancies included a sharp regularly,” since January this year. London branch of British Study with a request to resolve their
decline in student numbers, According to Martin Richards Centres (BSC) in Bloomsbury to industrial dispute or vacate the
financial difficulties and the of Evocation EFL, the company draw attention to Delfin’s use of premises and offering to mediate
necessity to move premises. It is did not know of the dispute until teaching space there. Rooms were between the two parties
clear from company accounts they were contacted on 14 temporarily rented to Delfin while involved.”
publicly available at Companies January. it waited to move to new Details of the claims made in
House that, like many London “We regret the circumstances accommodation. Simultaneous this article were provided to
schools, Delfin, named a good of the dispute (as far as we have small protests were held outside Delfin management who declined
value for money school in the last heard about these) but we do not other branches of BSC. to comment.

Canada-bound students die in Iran air crash

by Matt Salusbury forces that killed Iran’s Iranian students from the UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Revolutionary Guard commander University of British Columbia.
At least 40 Iranian students and General Qasem Soleimani in The University of Toronto,
teachers from universities in Baghdad. Western University and the
Canada were killed aboard The Iranian students killed in University of Waterloo also
Ukrainian Airlines Flight 572 the crash were mostly returning to reported losses.
which came down over Tehran in universities in Canada after The community colleges sector
January. Christmas holidays. The was also affected – among the
The plane was shot down University of Alberta reported 10 dead was Delaram Dadashnejad,
shortly after take-off by hyper- students and staff lost in the who was studying English at
vigilant Iranian air defence disaster. The University of Langara College in British
personnel, who mistook the plane Windsor held a vigil for five of Columbia, and Dr Razgar Rahimi,
for a hostile incoming aircraft, their students, and flags were who taught computer engineering
following the air strike by US flown at half-mast for three at Ontario’s Fleming College. Flags were flown at half-mast

editorial@elgazette.com 7