The Education Workers Industrial Union 620 (IU620) is the IWW section that represents all workers employed by Education and Research Institutions. This includes students, academics, support staff, archivists, cleaners, or researchers at nurseries, schools, universities, museums, libraries, or research laboratories.
We believe that knowledge is a social good and should be accessible and available to all. Furthermore, we believe that those engaged in educational work, i.e. teachers and learners, should be determining what is being taught and how. This can only be achieved once gatekeeping under market relations is abolished and a democratic economic system established.
We offer legal advice and training but, most importantly, we are here to help workers support one another. We do this by building workplace committees that can raise and deal with grievances when they see fit and in the way they see fit. We support all workers employed in the industry in their fight for better learning, teaching, and working conditions.
If you’re an education worker and would like to get involved in IU620, you can do so by setting up or joining:
A Local Committee which consists of education workers from several workplaces who help coordinate campaigns and solidarity within a geographic area.
A Workplace Committee to raise grievances in a democratic manner and fight for better working conditions in your own workplace.
A Regional Network which would lead campaigns around sections of the industry to help boost recruitment and reinforce workplace committees.
The Education Workers Organising Committee which supports and strengthens all networks and committees by providing training, representative, administrative, research, and communication support.
A ‘starter pack’ of resources is available to help guide you if you want to start your own union committee or network.
We also recognize that many established Trade Unions operate within the education industry. Many of our members are also members of such Trade Unions and are called ‘dual carders’. If you belong to a Trade Union, you are still welcome to join the IWW.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to any of the below contacts. You can also follow our Facebook page or join our open Facebook group where you can get advice and feedback on any workplace issues you may have.
For a ‘starter pack’ and general questions: education [at] iww [dot] org [dot] uk
For communications: education.comms [at] iww [dot] org [dot] uk
For the TEFL union: tefl [at] iww [dot] org [dot] uk or visit their website here.
For support in your branch, contact the Education Worker’s liaison from the emails on the right.
