Korean Job Discussion Forums

[itaewonguy]

A group of teachers working at Berlitz Korea have formed what they say is South Korea��s first foreign English instructors union in a bid to win better working conditions and fight race discrimination.
The union began formation in June last year after the Berlitz Korea management acquiesced to a customer��s request the previous month for only ��Caucasian North American�� teachers, union members said.

The staff became frustrated when their efforts to take up the race discrimination issue within the company were stonewalled, they said. Initially, they highlighted their grievances in a petition, which led to a meeting between staff representatives and management at Berlitz��s Samsong branch in southern Seoul on May 27.

��They listened to us, but did nothing,�� Ben Harris, inaugural union vice-president, told The Korea Times during a union campaign meeting in Haebangchon on Feb. 17.

Berlitz Korea previously had a clear company policy stating that they would not accept contracts nor hire teachers on the basis of the color of their skin. The management��s decision to go back on the own policy met with uproar from amongst its instructors, union members said.

A union organizing drive led by teachers Chris Wallace and Joanne Richards, along with a group of teachers from the Samsong school quickly succeeded in gaining the support of other instructors. Almost all of Berlitz Korea��s about 50 teachers across five branches in Yoido, Kwanghwamun, City Hall, Kangnam and Samsong signed up to the union.

In addition, advice and support was gained from the international officer of the Korean Council of Trade Unions, members said. The teachers held a general meeting on July 28, to elect postholders for the new union, electing Wallace as president, Harris as vice president and Richards as general secretary. A delegate was also elected to represent each of the five Berlitz branches.

Union members agreed on a set of objectives including workplace collective representation through the union, democratic participation of all members, opposition to all forms of discrimination and a commitment to internationalism.

The new union registered at the Kangnam office of the Ministry of Labor in August. The newly elected committee then began meeting fortnightly. The executive also undertook training in late August, learning how to recruit new teachers and build effective communication networks in the workplace.

It comes as no surprise that South Korea��s first foreign English teachers union formed at Berlitz for two reasons.

First, as the Berlitz Korea Union Web site (www.berlitzunionkorea. org) notes, Berlitz has a history of union activity. The Web site has links to the Berlitz Japan union, which has been operating for over 10 years.

The second, as union members told The Korea Times, is that Berlitz teacher��s working day begins at 6:45 a.m. and finishes at 9 p.m. with no paid overtime. The teachers also claim that Berlitz charges its customers more than most other schools for classes, but has one of the lowest pay rates in South Korea.

��As soon as my contract finishes, I��m out of here,�� said one teacher, who asked not to be identified, expressing the dissatisfaction of teachers at Berlitz.

One of the first acts of the union, after registration, was to survey all staff to identify key issues. The survey identified the issues of discrimination, poor communication, pay and conditions and Berlitz Korea��s slow payment of the severance bonuses as the main issues. Teachers said that some of their colleagues had waited several months for their severance pay in the past.

Contract negotiations began in mid-November and finished in early February this year, with a general members meeting occurring after the Berlitz 10th anniversary dinner in mid- December last year and members voting, by secret ballot, to endorse key changes. They also voted to authorize the union executive to pursue legal industrial action but in light of the then positive mood of negotiations, it was never tabled. The parties have now been in negotiations that have produced a union agreement containing a pay rise, overtime, introducing a shift system, ending the previous 14 hour working day and a clause stipulating teachers would not be selected on the basis of race, sex or religious preference.

However, the union hit one final hurdle after the agreement with management was reached. Berlitz Korea informed the union last month that it would be unable to honor the new agreement as it did not wish to pay overtime and would have difficulty staffing upcoming daytime contracts without doing so.

Andrew McPherson, current union president, said the management threatened to cancel the agreement.

The union began mobilizing its members in a publicity campaign to compel Berlitz Korea management to honor the agreement it had signed. At the time of printing, Berlitz Korea had again agreed to honor the agreement, they said.

Joh Joon-hee, senior director of Berlitz Korea, said the union negotiations involved ��ongoing issues to make our workplace better.��

He declined to comment on details of the negotiations but said the major disputes have now been resolved.

Interestingly, Berlitz Korea��s working conditions have been the subject of criticism before, from the most unlikely of sources: James Joyce, the famous Irish writer. Joyce was actually employed by Berlitz in Trieste, then part of the Austro- Hungarian Empire, in the 1900s. His assessment unfortunately concurs with its current day Korean employees. ��The lot of a Berlitz School teacher is an arduous one,�� he confided in a friend.

[zappadelta]

Man, that is a nerdy looking crew.

[mindmetoo]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

It's really nice to see this level of co-operation amongst FTs. Most crappy workplaces are so transcient that any sort of organisation is impossible.

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

Going to tell us where you got the story from, i-guy?

Sparkles*_*

[itaewonguy]

[seoulsucker]

Concessions = free bucket of Anal-Ease with every contract to desensitize your stinkstar for the bunghole-busting you're going to get all year from the management.

I know illegal landscapers in Chicago that have it better than the teachers at Berlitz. How does a school like that continue to fish in new blood?

[jinju]

[antoniothegreat]

i thought it was illegal for E-2 visas to enter a union....

but on another note, i have been thinking of somehow forming a database for companies and how they treat foreigners. For example, if one credit card company is good, log that in a database, versus the ones that charge bad interest or high fees only because someone is not Korean. has anyone tried anything like that before? any feedback? good/bad idea?

[seoulsucker]

[chiaa]

[Cheonmunka]

The problem with unions is that they cause everyone to be in the same condition at the same base rate. There is no room for individual attainment. I prefer a competitive system.

If these people sign for such garbage then that's their own fault. But, don't take me into their fold and down their road!
If people are such idiots as individuals to have no control over their own affairs then they are idiots collectively. Good grief, unions scare me.

[Ya-ta Boy]

[Cheonmunka]

There's no reason for adults to work like Oliver Twist. It's personal responsibilty.

[Cheonmunka]

YA Ta Boy, you've been here a while right?
If I'm an employer and say to you, I'm sorry but the unionised rate is 2 million, how would you feel?

How could you increase your lot if you cannot negotiate on behalf of yourself?