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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
I guess the main issue is, will the ROK government recognize the union as a legal entity?
IMO, it looks like a long shot, and without legal recognition, it is more likely that the proposed union will end up being a help/support group rather than a group that can effectively represent the rights of the foreign English teachers.
What on earth is Camilla Parker-Bowles doing in Korea?
If I had to take an early guess, I’d say probably not.
On the other hand, I suppose trying to form an illegal union is better than sitting around bitching.
Not that bitching isn’t fun, of course.
I wouldn’t worry too much about government recognition. Following the proper steps, it’s possible. Teachers at the Berlitz schools in Korea have already formed a union after all. Besides, the migrant workers Union appears to be willing to grant membership to English teachers, which may be the way to go as they are already established, already have many members, and share some of the same concerns as most hagwon teachers have.
Most ESL teachers are short-timers here to get paid and laid. They don’t have the motivation to put in the effort to make a functioning union.
The lifers are not numerous enough to make a strike (The true power of a union) economically damaging enough for the hagwons/ universities to give a crap.
The only way a teacher’s union will come to be realized is when the supply of temporary teachers dries up to the point that they’ll agree to anything to keep us.
Though I got to agree that the Migrant Workers Union would be the best way to go.
Also, the really powerful Korean trade unions bully employers into releasing
goldbricksleaders to “full-time” union work, while still paying the leaders a full-time wage from the employer’s payroll.Most English teachers work for underfunded “small-and-medium enterprises” which can’t put someone on the dole that way. Instead, the union leaders are going to have to fund union operations the painful way — by union dues. Will English teachers be willing to ante up W50,000-100,000 a month for “insurance” in the form of a union umbrella?
I found that you can get around the Korea Times’ URL masking by searching for the article on the website, right clicking and selecting open in new window. The acutal URL will be displayed in the address bar of the new window.
“Most English teachers work for underfunded “small-and-medium enterprises” which can’t put someone on the dole that way. Instead, the union leaders are going to have to fund union operations the painful way — by union dues. Will English teachers be willing to ante up W50,000-100,000 a month for “insurance” in the form of a union umbrella?”
I thought of that, and I came to conclude that it probably wouldn’t add up to that much, especially if the teachers join an already established union that has thousands of members, such as the Migrant Workers Union.
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