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rusty1983
Joined: 30 Jan 2007
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 Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 2:06 pm Post subject: Union/Strike |
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| Considering just how much everyone moans on Dave's have you lot ever tried to get union going? Or tried to arrange a strike over some of the harshities? |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 2:11 pm Post subject: Re: Union/Strike |
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| rusty1983 wrote: |
| Considering just how much everyone moans on Dave's have you lot ever tried to get union going? Or tried to arrange a strike over some of the harshities? |
Under the terms of our visa it is illegal for us to take part in either activity.
(immigration control act). |
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rusty1983
Joined: 30 Jan 2007
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| Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 2:15 pm Post subject: Re: Union/Strike |
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| ttompatz wrote: |
| rusty1983 wrote: |
| Considering just how much everyone moans on Dave's have you lot ever tried to get union going? Or tried to arrange a strike over some of the harshities? |
Under the terms of our visa it is illegal for us to take part in either activity.
(immigration control act). |
Oh. |
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rusty1983
Joined: 30 Jan 2007
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| Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 2:28 pm Post subject: |
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| Basic human right surely? |
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IncognitoHFX
Joined: 06 May 2007
Location: Yeongtong, Suwon
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| Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 3:38 pm Post subject: |
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| rusty1983 wrote: |
| Basic human right surely? |
Forming unions is not a basic human right. Most English teachers are young and only here for a year, unions would be superfluous. It's just like back home. Most non-professional jobs (and even some professional ones) will fire you if you even mutter the word "union" quietly to yourself while taking a dump in the employee washroom.
Back in Canada, I knew a person who said "let's form a union!" in the smoking area jokingly, quoting television I believe, and he was fired the next day for being late for work. He was technically fired for being one minute late, and it happened weeks before the firing. It was also only his second or third time "being late" (within five minutes) since he began employment there five years prior to.
At least here we have the liberty to talk and say whatever we want. |
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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 4:43 pm Post subject: |
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| rusty1983 wrote: |
| Basic human right surely? |
I agree it should be a basic, democratic right for workers to form unions, but you cannot form unions in much of the U.S. South like you can in say New York, California, and Illinois. In Korea, Korean workers are allowed to unionize somewhat, but we are foreigners, we have no one to advocate for us, and we are not allowed to do that on our visas. Supposedly, there is a group called ATEK, which is trying to act as a union, but that still doesn't change that union activities are illegal for us over here. |
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Tobias
Joined: 02 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 5:50 pm Post subject: Form a union? |
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TESOL teachers actually uniting and forming union? You guys are dreaming. The turnover is too high, for one thing. High turnover means most wouldn't care about a union even if it did come into existence. Another factor is people who come here have nothing to lose, really, so they don't see any reason to join/form a union. They don't know what good money is and don't really appreciate what they have here. Call 'em naive. Call 'em stupid. Finally, and this is the best part, TESOL grunts are too individualistic, thanks to their western conditioning. This is especially true of those from the USA. The 'me first, *beep* everybody else' attitude prevails here. You can see this on a simple site such as good ol' Dave's...posters can't agree on which is the best alcoholic drink without resorting to junior-high personal attacks and ostracism games. How will TESOL grunts be able to agree with each other enough to form a union?
A TESOL union. What a laughable idea. |
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rusty1983
Joined: 30 Jan 2007
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| Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:27 pm Post subject: |
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Just wondering.
Eventually gonna need things along these lines if TEFL is ever gonna become a respected profession actually worth persuing long-term.
I think youre right though most wouldnt use it. |
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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:37 pm Post subject: |
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| rusty1983 wrote: |
Just wondering.
Eventually gonna need things along these lines if TEFL is ever gonna become a respected profession actually worth persuing long-term.
I think youre right though most wouldnt use it. |
I disagree with the poster above you about the turn over rate to some extent, but not completely. I used to be a president of a student organization, and I had long term plans for it. I wanted it to branch out. I stayed long enough for that to happen and the team that started with me knew what direction to take it. You have enough people who are long-term (say at least 2 years) to make a difference if a union was allowed. Y
You only need a certain percentage of veterans to have a voice
to be noticed. The question is how effective it could be in Korea, a foreign country, is a whole other ball game. I was trying to be effective in Canada. Canada and Korea are very different from each other.
The main issue is we are barred as foreigners from effectively defending ourselves because of the E2 visa system, the inability to form unions, and too many corrupt officials covering up for corrupt hagwon bosses.
Of course, the situation is great and awesome for many teachers, and I am not discounting that. I am better off when compared to many people I've met and have known. |
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mehamrick
Joined: 28 Aug 2006
Location: South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Whatever happened to ATEK?? I think that is what it was called? |
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