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china foreign teachers union
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Mr. English



Joined: 25 Nov 2009
Posts: 298
Location: Nakuru, Kenya

PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 4:20 am    Post subject: china foreign teachers union Reply with quote

http://www.chinaforeignteachersunion.org

This is a website that is new to me, found it today while I was poking around on the web, though from what I read on the site it has been in existence for two years. My connection today is too slow to load all the data on the site, but looks to be well worth having a look at for information about scams, working conditions, particular agents and schools, and more.
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Sarcastro



Joined: 18 Dec 2010
Posts: 89
Location: Ann Arbor, MI

PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 5:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Is there a reason why all the images are broken?
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Javelin of Radiance



Joined: 01 Jul 2009
Posts: 1187
Location: The West

PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 5:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The images opened for me. some jpegs of a teacher survey that someone conducted, one of santa claus, one of chinese labor laws, one of some woman doing thumbs up.
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fat_chris



Joined: 10 Sep 2003
Posts: 3198
Location: Beijing

PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 6:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Javelin of Radiance wrote:
some jpegs of a teacher survey that someone conducted, one of santa claus, one of chinese labor laws, one of some woman doing thumbs up


What a wacky mishmatch of stuff, a real hodgepodge. Very Happy

Warm regards,
fat_chris
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Javelin of Radiance



Joined: 01 Jul 2009
Posts: 1187
Location: The West

PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 7:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

fat_chris wrote:
Javelin of Radiance wrote:
some jpegs of a teacher survey that someone conducted, one of santa claus, one of chinese labor laws, one of some woman doing thumbs up


What a wacky mishmatch of stuff, a real hodgepodge. Very Happy

Warm regards,
fat_chris

meet your future union reps !! Very Happy
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B4UGO



Joined: 19 Nov 2012
Posts: 24
Location: China/Korea

PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 9:43 am    Post subject: China Foreign Teachers Union Has Best School Blacklist Reply with quote

Actually, if you can find your way around that unusual web site you will find the biggest and best blacklist of schools and scam agents for China I ever found in one place. All the people Dave warned us about are there as well as dozens of others we never heard of. They even have the photos of the agents because they keep changing their names! Here is a link if you cannot find it on your own... http://www.chinaforeignteachersunion.org/2012/12/china-foreign-teachers-union-posts-esl.html
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Denim-Maniac



Joined: 31 Jan 2012
Posts: 1238

PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 10:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This was shared here recently. Its shabby and comes over like one unhappy individual writing posts on a personal blog, who has very little knowledge of China in the first place. Absolute muppet IMHO.

One of his union pledges was working together to ensure that everyone was paid a minimum of 250 RMB per hour. No credibility in that.
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fat_chris



Joined: 10 Sep 2003
Posts: 3198
Location: Beijing

PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 1:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Javelin of Radiance wrote:
meet your future union reps !! Very Happy


Very Happy Arrow Sad

Warm regards,
fat_chris
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B4UGO



Joined: 19 Nov 2012
Posts: 24
Location: China/Korea

PostPosted: Thu Jan 24, 2013 12:19 am    Post subject: Foreign Teachers in China Receive Crap Salaries Reply with quote

I have been in Beijing only a year but I never worked for less than 200 yuan per hour and when my current contract expires I have already found 4 schools that have offered me 250 an hour. I made much more in Shanghai tutoring VIPS. Of course in Beijing I found my own gig without a recruiter. I am also a native speaker with a bachelor's degree. Anyone who uses an agent will never even see 200 yuan per hour. I think it comes down to whether or not you believe all the bull the agents feed you about salaries or find a job on your own. And for sure, if you go outside of the five big markets (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou) you will earn less. My own experience is that what is presented at ChinaScamBusters.com is pretty much on target. If you have not been cheated yet, consider yourself one of the fortunate few.

The other thing I found interesting and shameful is that foreign teachers are the lowest paid foreigners in China. And we are the only profession whose salaries have not increased over the last five years. All other workers in China have averaged a 20% pay increase. Checkout the charts and stats at this link: http://www.chinaforeignteachersunion.org/2012/12/cftu-minimum-wage-for-foreign-teachers.html Unfortunately if you do not have a VPN you will not be able to see the graphics and photos.

I asked one of the CFTU volunteers why they just don't use a regular website and she said they had one but it was constantly hacked by the guv or agents deleting their photos. This blogger site is hosted on Google servers which may get blocked from time to time but they can't be hacked. Censorship sucks.


Last edited by B4UGO on Thu Jan 24, 2013 12:57 am; edited 3 times in total
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hilena_westb



Joined: 13 Nov 2012
Posts: 130

PostPosted: Thu Jan 24, 2013 12:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Is this for real?

What are the qualifications of any of the so-called administrators?

Why weren't they smart enough to NOT use "blogger" as the hosting site as most areas of China block the word "blog" per the Chinese firewall?

The need to "apply" for membership sounds like a $$ issue to me.
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B4UGO



Joined: 19 Nov 2012
Posts: 24
Location: China/Korea

PostPosted: Thu Jan 24, 2013 1:11 am    Post subject: CFTU membership requirements Reply with quote

hilena_westb wrote:
Is this for real?

What are the qualifications of any of the so-called administrators?

Why weren't they smart enough to NOT use "blogger" as the hosting site as most areas of China block the word "blog" per the Chinese firewall?

The need to "apply" for membership sounds like a $$ issue to me.


I went to two of their coffee house meetings near Liangmachao in Beijing (about 40 teachers showed up and 2 of the 3 co-administrators). The first meeting was about setting up some free cross-cultural training seminars for new expat arrivals that decide to teach, and the second meeting was about organizing the collection of photos of scam agents. (They are basically baiting agents to find out if they are legit or not - if not their name and photo goes on the blacklist).

After the second meeting I inquired about joining up, and although I was expecting a membership fee, I was shocked to learn they have not charged any membership fees for three years, but they require 8 hours of volunteer work a month for 3 months before you become a member. The lady explained this was to keep out the people who only want to use the union to solve their own personal problems and then contribute nothing back to others. The whole organization is volunteers actually. And they elect 5 board members who must have taught in China for at least 5 years or more and be married to a local Chinese or have permanent residence. I was told they do this after one of the three founders and two other leaders were "passively deported" in 2010 (visas not renewed without explanations)

I was expecting these people to sell me something or try to push religion on me, but no they are people just fed-up with the abuse and decided to fight back. In three months since I met them, they never asked me to join or tried to sell me a thing.

I was thinking of joining but my partner thinks I will end up on some guv blacklist so I am still thinking about it. They are a bit secretive and everyone there is told never to use their last names at meetings and they all created disposable emails just to be safe. Nobody knows what to expect from the new guv, but the recent VPN crackdown makes them all very cautious. My partner and I were invited to their Christmas and New Year's party but we went back home for the holidays.
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Denim-Maniac



Joined: 31 Jan 2012
Posts: 1238

PostPosted: Thu Jan 24, 2013 10:33 am    Post subject: Re: CFTU membership requirements Reply with quote

[quote="B4UGO"]

They are a bit secretive and everyone there is told never to use their last names at meetings and they all created disposable emails just to be safe. /quote]

Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy

I love this spy stuff, 007 licenced to spell.
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Javelin of Radiance



Joined: 01 Jul 2009
Posts: 1187
Location: The West

PostPosted: Thu Jan 24, 2013 10:49 am    Post subject: Re: CFTU membership requirements Reply with quote

Denim-Maniac wrote:
B4UGO wrote:


They are a bit secretive and everyone there is told never to use their last names at meetings and they all created disposable emails just to be safe.


Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy

I love this spy stuff, 007 licenced to spell.

Sounds like the Stone-cutters have opened a China franchise.
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kev7161



Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 5880
Location: Suzhou, China

PostPosted: Thu Jan 24, 2013 12:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Actually, if you can find your way around that unusual web site you will find the biggest and best blacklist of schools and scam agents for China I ever found in one place.


The school I work for is on that black list! Their linked source is one website where one former teacher (who worked at our school for less than 3 months before he got fired) posted negative reviews under no less than three different "names". There were other negative reviews alongside several positive and glowing reviews (I guess those were discounted). One slam was from someone who admitted he never even worked at our school (some of you may heard of him, the recently departed "Raoul"?) but he could only find it in his tiny little heart to believe just the negative reviews, so he found it easier to jump on the bandwagon.

Not saying where I work is perfect and pristine, but some of the things they were saying on this website were obviously and patently untrue. So now the school is on this site's black list. Because of this, it deserves an eye roll from me. Rolling Eyes
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zactherat



Joined: 24 Aug 2011
Posts: 295

PostPosted: Thu Jan 24, 2013 1:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DenimManiac wrote:
I love this spy stuff, 007 licenced to spell.


We like our English spoken, not slurred.
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