A 30 PESO PRICE HIKE ON THE METRO was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
We all understand the reasons behind the nationwide protests in Chile. We see them in memes and on banners. We hear it in the streets.
Education. Health. Price-fixing collusion. Rip-off pensions. The impossibly high cost of living. Massive, never-ending inequality.
We blame the system, politicians and presidents.
But, if you are a teacher, look closer to home.
Maybe, you are one of the ‘lucky’ ones, working ‘only’ 45 hours (plus planning and grading) but with a contract, sick pay and a mediocre salary through the summer.
However, for many English teachers in Chile this is not the case.
Life is a precarious balancing act comprised of ‘freelance’ hourly-paid institute or university work and private classes, giving you an income from mid-March to December.
This precarity is caused by employers using ‘hire and release’ short-term, rolling contracts, often for years. March to December. Repeat.
And the pay is low, even when group classes are comprised of many paying students.
Non-‘native’ teachers also face discrimination.
This precarity has brought us to where we are now and it’s important to be clear who should shoulder that responsibility. We all know who they are
- Private universities
- Large ‘cultural’ institutes
- Internationally owned institutes
- Private schools that fire teachers every year
How can The Instituto Chileno Britanico, in business since 1938, for years with a virtual monopoly on Cambridge exams (and now IELTS) possibly justify such poverty wages and the lack of contracts?
Just like Chile, those at the top remain the same, while those below fight to make a living.
On 7th October the ELT Journal published a definition of ‘Precarity’ with these lines:
“As generally understood nowadays, precarity is a condition resulting from an employment regime in which deregulated labour markets give rise to various types of insecure work; in which social protections are minimized; and in which the ability to plan a coherent future is compromised.”
Teachers, fearful of losing jobs or not having a contract renewed, are susceptible to workplace bullying, intimidation and exploitation. Unpaid hours for meetings, training and travel are routine.
It is time for the big business in English Language Teaching in Chile to acknowledge their role in the creation of the current crisis.
It is time for teacher employers to recognize their responsibilities.
And it is also time for the organizations who claim to act in the interests of teachers to stand up for them, not hide behind large, money-making, corporate conferences.
It’s not 30 pesos, it’s 30 years.
They say here ‘Chile despierta’ – Chile has woken up and we have the duty of not being neutral. We must be vocal and demand the changes that need to be made.
In solidarity,
Kevin Towl
English Teacher Worker Group Chile
https://www.facebook.com/groups/EnglishTeacherWorkerChile/
Photo credit: Diego Arenas
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