. . . you’re working
for has got a major-league problem, the best thing you can do
is either just leave or give it up. I think there are a lot
of reasons why your rebel-rousing probably wouldn’t work and,
what’s more, there are a lot more reasons why you shouldn’t
waste your time doing it.
Here’s the basic text (with a bit of editing) of a complaint-email
I received recently:
I'm wondering if you could give me some professional
advice in order to defuse a potentially explosive situation.
I am working at ….. where a lot of teachers are getting very
hot and bothered about the wages. Their basic argument is
that …… is one of the biggest, most expensive schools in Spain
and they're endlessly increasing their market share, but their
wages have remained the same.
Personally, I can't decide whose side I'm on. I'd like more
money, but on the other hand I don't like to be unfair to
my employers. I know they're difficult questions but do you
think:
1. That a big company like ……… should pay more than ……. an
hour (freelance)?
2. That in the world of TEFL, it is reasonable to ask your
employers for a raise after a year? (Is the answer different
if you're working freelance?)
3. Also, there are other people saying that everybody had
better shut up about wages because if management thinks you're
whipping up discontent, they'll fire you.
Could you also answer the question, “do “autonomos” have any
rights whatsoever?” Can you really be fired at the drop of
a hat?
To answer your questions (I gather you’d like me to do so as
you sent me the email):
1) “That a big company like ……… should pay more than
……. an hour (freelance)?”
I think that a big company can pay as little as it wants to
(or as it can get away with) as long as it can find employees
to work for that amount. (In this case, the rates in your
company are just a bit above average.) The basic reason is
“supply” and “demand.” If you accepted that “low amount” to
begin with, it’s not like you were cheated or lied to. In
this case, for example, I know for a fact that there are a
couple of better paying agencies out there so I’m just guessing
that your qualifications or years of experience aren’t good
enough to change jobs. If they are, my recommendation is that
you get to it. If they aren't, my suggestion is that you start
studying.
By the way, you mentioned that wages have stayed the same despite
their “endlessly increasing” market share, but you didn’t mention
the upwards spiraling cost-of-living. I’ll bet that has as much
or more to do with your company’s employees’ complaints as anything
else. I don’t think it’s getting any easier to make ends meet
these days on that kind of pay, but you could probably say more
about that than me.
Also, I’ll just bet that if your company hasn’t raised rates
for quite some time, it’ll be for either or both of two reasons:
a) They’re getting plenty of teachers. (If supply’s good, you’re
scr@wed.)
b) Their expenses are spiraling upwards alongside everyone else’s,
(If they can’t afford to pay more, you’re also scr@wed.) so
they aren’t able to raise their rates to their clients.
I think the way that you (or whoever it is that’s organizing
this little “rebellion” – Can I call it that?) seem to want
to improve on this situation is to seriously threaten the fact
that they are getting (and have) a lot of teachers (or “a” above).
This won’t work for at least a couple of reasons:
a) You’d have to be in constant contact with a
large percentage of those teachers in the first place, which
you most certainly are not, to be able to persuade them to
strike. Only the threat of massive strikes would help you
to do anything to force these folks to give you all a raise
in the short term. (Besides having a lot of teachers just
walk out on them, that is.)
b) I’ll bet you don’t know more than 15 or 20 teachers in your
organization and you couldn’t even convince 2 or 3 of them.
English teachers tend to be individualistic enough, but somewhat
“sheepish” in a group. What’s more is that the younger ones
won’t want anything to do with protesting because they’re probably
here mostly as tourists anyway and most of the older ones (who
are probably here just “temporarily” as well) will have seen
so many “rebellions” come and go without any effect at all,
that they’ll ignore you just about completely too. You are,
after all, getting above average pay for Madrid.
2. “... That in the world of TEFL, it is reasonable
to ask your employers for a raise after a year? (Is the answer
different if you're working freelance?)”
You “can” ask and they “can” refuse. There are always “favorites”
in these agencies who get a lot better treatment. My advice?:
You catch more flies with honey in this business than with sh@t,
but if kissing up, for example, doesn’t work for you (it never
has for me), why don’t you change to something that does.
By the way, I do ask for a raise from time-to-time from my
clients, but I’ve never been one to stick around long enough
to ask for many raises. As a “mercenary” (I mean “freelance”),
I can tell you that I often have to cull time-wasters and clients
that want to pay too little. You should do the same. What can
that agency give you as a raise? One Euro? Two Euros? Five Euros?
It’s all still pretty low in my book. (Do the math.) My question
is: why are you wasting time with the small change? Get out
there and find something that’s a lot better!
3. "Also, there are other people saying that
everybody had better shut up about wages because if management
thinks you're whipping up discontent, they'll fire you.
Could you also answer the question, 'do autonomos have any
rights whatsoever?' Can you really be fired at the drop of
a hat?"
“Autonomos” don’t have any rights to speak of. You can, in
fact, be fired whenever they want to do so, and if you’re
getting along badly with your students as well as with the
management, that’ll probably be sooner rather than later.
But, otherwise, unless you’re doing all too well at the “whipping,”
they’ll probably just ignore you as long as possible. Getting
rid of you in the middle of a “school year” might cause a
lot of problems with your students and you can never know
who that’ll bother or what will happen as a result.
Finally, as a response to what you’re saying regarding not
being able to decide whose side you’re on: “I'd like more money,
but on the other hand I don't like to be unfair to my employers.”
I don’t understand the use of the conjunction “but” in this
sentence. I simply don’t understand how wanting more money is
unfair to your employers. What is unfair, however, is expecting
your employers to behave any differently than you (and 19 out
of 20 teachers) probably would if you were in their shoes.
Company
Requires English Teachers
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