Job Discussion Forums

[Mia Xanthi]

Thought this might be of interest to some of you on the board. This is one example of how Saudi admin may choose to deal with faculty who are disgruntled over late pay.

Row at Girls Teachers College sparks faculty, student protests
Sarah Abdullah | Arab News

JEDDAH: A row between the director of Al-Faisal Academy in Riyadh, the agent they hired and teachers working at the Girls Teachers College, which is under King Abdul Aziz University (KAU), has led to the sackings, and resignations, of English language teachers as well as student protests.

The protesting teachers say that they signed a contract with Mohammed Yasin, an agent hired by Al-Faisal Academy, to work as English language instructors in a preparatory English language program for recipients of the King Abdullah Scholarship Program.

Part of the row is over payment. The contract states that they would be paid their salaries on the fourth week of each month. However, they were only paid for two weeks last Wednesday and promised the remaining two weeks salary on Saturday.

�I was expecting to be paid on Saturday but was met instead by controversy,� Faculty Supervisor at the Girls Teachers College Sharia Walker told Arab News.

According to various sources, the row allegedly erupted when Abdulaziz Al-Rafi, executive director of Al-Faisal Academy, visited the college with the intention of immediately meeting the female teachers working at the institution, located off Khaled bin Walid Street.

Yasin said he refused, claiming Al-Rafi had no jurisdiction in demanding to see the teachers and that his contract with Al-Faisal Academy stipulated anyone could only coordinate with employees of the teachers� college through him. Walker said that she and the other teachers knew that if they decided to meet with Al-Rafi they would be in breach of their contracts.

�The teachers know they are not allowed to have contact with anyone except Yasin or work for any third party, so this is why we refused,� Walker said. To settle the issue, Walker said she decided to meet with Al-Rafi as a representative of the faculty. �At the meeting, I introduced myself and my position at the college to Al-Rafi who said he did not want to meet with me or anyone, only all the faculty members,� she said.

According to other sources he then arrived with a letter that severed the deal with Yasin and stated all faculty members would be paid directly. He then allegedly sent secretaries to each class asking teachers who had initially dealt with Yasin to sign. The sources added that those who did not agree were told to consider themselves terminated.

�Many of the teachers, because they were teaching, disregarded the letter until after class. However those teachers who did not immediately sign were given black X�s next to their names and were told they were terminated and were not going to be paid the rest of their salaries,� Walker said. Another senior administrator, Ajwad Kurdi, said she was astonished at what has happened. �I was in Riyadh at the time and had no knowledge of a problem. I received a call from Yasin who told me to go to the girls college immediately so I went there directly from the airport.

�Once I got there I tried to meet the executive director of Al-Faisal Academy,� Kurdi said, adding that the reason he gave for not meeting her was because he had heard her and Walker had resigned on Wednesday, which she added was not true.

Walker added that the teachers drafted a letter to the Minister of Higher Education Khaled Al-Anqari explaining the problems but have yet to receive a reply.

Yasin had also offered to release the contract he had with Al-Rafi and allow him to sign new contracts with the teachers provided that Al-Rafi honored his previous contract to pay the teachers up to Dec. 23, which is the end of the program.

Arab News tried to contact Al-Rafi and Al-Faisal Academy but they refused to comment.

Since Monday morning Saudi teachers have now arrived to teach, but instead of having 25 students per teacher as usual, they have merged as many as 100 students per class. Students have protested by refusing to attend classes

[johnslat]

Dear Mia,

Now that IS revolting!

Regards,
John

[Kalima Shahada]

Hmm, let me guess now - they are working on proper work visas?

YES!?

[alfanie32]

wow, very interested, thanks for sharing....

[desultude]

You have no freedom nor rights in the Kingdom. Full stop.

[scot47]

Before signing your indentures be sure to choose a good master.

[veiledsentiments]

[johnslat]

Two rules, which, while they may not guarantee a good working environment, certainly make it more likely:

1. BE A "DIRECT HIRE" - DO NOT USE A "MIDDLEMAN" (or, to be PC, a "middleperson") RECRUITER.

2. GO ONLY TO SAUDI EMPLOYERS THAT OFFER A LEGAL WORK VISA.

If you follow RULE NUMBER 1, it's likely (but not certain) that RULE NUMBER 2 will follow automatically.

The Kingdom is not the most congenial environment for most expats. If you are unfortunate enough to work at a place that you dislike (or worse)
your life will be totally miserable. For many/most who last in Saudi, they do so because their work is at least tolerable or even enjoyable.
If you don't have that sort of job, you won't last.

Regards,
John

[scot47]

John

In my experience, the people most in need of this advice are the ones who never read sites like Dave's ESLCafe

[johnslat]

Dear scot47,

You're likely right - however, we can do only what can be done.


Regards,
John

[kugaas]

[With Malice Toward None]

[crashartist1]

John, yo are so right about those people who last in Saudi tolerate their jobs... My friend is on his 18 or 19 year in the kingdom, and he loves it there. He rarely complains about his work because, well he knows nothing will come of it so what is really the point? He has his life outside of work (speaks fluent arabic now) and that is that. He's got it right, just do the job you were hired to do, keep your head down and don't make a lot of noise. Some people make really good money and simply don't care its not the perfect ideal place to work. They can survive it and at the end of the day they go home and enjoy a comfortable life.

[desultude]

[veiledsentiments]