“Online platforms like Learnship promise flexibility and quick cash. But the reality is often one of precarity and exploitation and, when crises do occur, teachers’ livelihoods are the first to be sacrificed. But we’re not going to let Learnship get away with it. The teachers are determined to get what’s owed to them and the union has their back every step of the way” the lead organiser for the TEFL Workers’ Union, Tom Liebewitz stated.
Teachers report that until mid-November, Learnship continued assigning new courses, onboarding students, and billing corporate clients as usual – even though those delivering the lessons were not receiving compensation. On November 14, the company shut down all communication channels; Microsoft Teams groups were deleted or locked, and the internal support chat was removed, say employees. For a full week, the trainers did not receive a single form of communication from their employer.
“It is we who have been the ambassadors of the brand and driven growth and success from the ground up. So it is flatly unacceptable that when it really counts, we are coldly shut out from communication and denied what we are rightfully owed: our money and an explanation” said Richard, a Learnship teacher.
On November 21, Learnship issued a vague message to teachers that the company was facing “operational difficulties” without any elaboration on whether the company is solvent or not. Employees say management instructed trainers to lie to students about the precarious situation in which they were in and cancel lessons using “neutral reasons.”
“We were asked to lie to our students and pretend nothing was wrong. For people who try to be honest, that alone creates a whole different kind of strain” said one teacher.
In addition to collective organizing, some teachers have filed police reports in their respective countries. Others have sought out legal counsel to determine whether Learnship’s instructions to remain silent violate teachers’ rights as freelancers.
“For hundreds of trainers around the world, the question now is not just when Learnship will pay them, but whether they can financially survive long enough to find out” conclude the teachers in a joint statement.
A.M.
