Korean Job Discussion Forums

[DrunkenMaster]

When do unis hire?

[Whirlwind]

Dream on. You'll never see any union here simply because a) greedy hagwon owners won't allow it and b) we don't have the numbers to cause any significant change here and c) EFL is a transitory business(especially in a place as corrupt as Korea), so most people probably do a year or two here(and I'd bet that a lot, a helluva lot, of teachers midnight run before the 6 month mark).

[wylies99]

[Teelo]

Teelo's union contract draft

1. This is a story all about how my life got flip-turned upside down... wait thats not right. Let me try again. This is a contract between ___ and ___.

2. Salary will be 3.0 million won/month, to be paid either as cash, into a korean bank account, or transferred to an overseas bank account. The employee gets final say on how the salary is paid.

3. Working hours will be four hours per day, five days a week.

4. Employer may not request overtime. Should the employer breach this section, they will be subject to a 5.0 million won fine, payable to the union.

5. Housing will be provided by the employer, and must be in the most secure and quietest neighbourhood of the area. If the house does not meet the employees needs, the employer must promptly find something better.

Amendment: 5.1 Tenant and landlord issues must follow the requirements of the Residential Tenancies Act of New Zealand.

6. Furnishing will be provided by the employer. Anything the employee wants, the employee gets.

7. Should the employee have a co-teacher, the co-teacher must act as the employee's bitch, and do everything the employee wants, when they want, and how they want.

8. The employer may not terminate this contract under any circumstances.

9. The employee may make a midnight runner whenever they want. Remaining salary must be paid by international transfer to the employee's foreign bank account.

10. This contract will be enforced in english, and no korean translations will be made. Go learn some english you retarded english school owners.

[Bucheonguy]

Love the union contract draft. Sadly, I work at a public school, not even a Hagwon and I think I still need a bloody union. The housing section is nice.

Here's what I would tack on:

1. No class shall excede 20 students.

2. Participation in the class will be voluntary.

3. All materials must be provided by the school or at least, the teacher must be reimbursed.

4. There will, at no time, ever, ever be a bumbling stupid coteacher in the room without the foreign teachers consent.

5. No foreign teacher will ever be allowed to work with a teacher that: Did not pass their teachers exam; is over 30 years old; has a lower IQ than a hamster; hasn't lived overseas for a period of a year.

6. If over time work is required, (such as extra classes or prep) the school will pay "time and a half" salary for the first our which will then increase to double time upon the 10th hour of work. Real North American union style. F@#% this 6000won BS.

7. Slanderous, insulting inflamortory statements will not be tolerated. Any Korean teacher who continually makes two of these statements will have to bend over, ass in the air, and receive a spanking with a firm stick, in front of the school. A principal or vp who makes these remarks will be able to choose a select group of students to observe, in order to better maintain their face. (I know this one would never make it in but god I'd love it.)

[yingwenlaoshi]

Boy, that's some dream you have.

[Teelo]

8. If the employer makes any pay deductions or delays pay, the employer must step infront of a subway train in Seoul.

[Donald Frost]

[ED209]

9. The employer must submit a psychological evaluation by a non-Korean(qualified) doctor.


Honestly, I can live without a union. Just scrap the current E2, let us have a decision other than 'put up with it' and 'run', give us the option of CHANGE!

[TheUrbanMyth]

[Adventurer]

Now, ATEK seems like it's accepted by the government. I am not praising the organization. I am just saying it seems to have legal standing, at least. Does that mean we are allowed to unionize? What are we allowed to do exactly? Could we pass out literature related to the ESL industry without naming bad hagwons and talking about teaching English, how foreigners feel in the country, and that sort of thing. I don't mind necessarily joining a union if we could somehow effect change and reach out to people without getting into legal trouble.

[Tobias]

Adventurer, you'd be better off to simply forget about starting a union. The TESOL industry is run and influenced by certain powers, and you'll not be allowed to start a union without their involvement. Not only this, the industry sees too much turnover to justify all the sacrifices necessary to make it work. If I'm going to be in this only a year or three, I'm not going to contribute much, if anything, to a union cause. Why would I? I'll make the sacrifices necessary just to benefit someone else? Nope.

And most TESOL grunts are too conditioned with 'me first' thinking. Such a mindset does not make for good union rank and file who may be asked to participate in slowdowns, work stoppages, and strikes at a moment's notice. If someone asked YOU to go on strike this morning and picket your school, would you do it? No, you can't think about it. You'd just do it, no questions asked. Well?

[Teelo]

If by "picket" you mean "hang my boss upside down from a flagpole in his/her underwear", then sure.

[Tony (ATEK)]

[branchsnapper]

If I join, do I get a day off to strike every time some guy has a fall-out with a hagwon boss/principal? Yes? Sign me up!

What? I'm not paid for that day!?