tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33746779410985381982024-02-20T05:45:42.232-05:00Teachers For a Better KaplanTeachers organizing for change and fair treatment in the for-profit sector.Those in favorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714868771449479290noreply@blogger.comBlogger58125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-65649908784706145832015-12-29T20:07:00.004-05:002015-12-29T20:08:09.881-05:00Congratulations Boston EF Teachers!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>19-8!</b></h2>
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Boston EF teachers stood strong against their employer's anti-union campaign and voted 19-8 in favor of joining the NewsGuild - CWA. Jump over to their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/EFTeachersUnion/" target="_blank">Facebook page and say congrats</a>! </h4>
<br />Those in favorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714868771449479290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-81331528013918958952015-10-28T00:04:00.002-04:002015-11-02T08:21:25.366-05:00Article about us (by us) in Working USA<div class="info" style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 700; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 18px;">
<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/wusa.12192/full" target="_blank">WorkingUSA, September, 2015. 10.1111/wusa.12192</a></div>
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Teaching and Organizing in For‐Profit Higher Education: A Kaplan Story</h2>
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Joe Berry, Jon Blanchette</div>
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Abstract</h5>
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<span style="font-size: 13px;">This article attempts to do two things: one, to describe the sizeable for-profit higher education sector; and second—and mainly—to tell the story of one of the very few successful organizing drives in recent years in that sector. In this case, the drive was at Kaplan International Centers (KIC) in New York City. The article is coauthored by Joe Berry, who has studied and written about contingent faculty organizing, and participated in it for many years, and Jonathan Blanchette, who was one of the leading member-organizers of the successful organizing drive at KIC. As part of the narrative of the organizing drive and subsequent negotiations for first contract, the article deals with teacher consciousness, fears, and management antiunion tactics, and why the antiunion tactics were ultimately unsuccessful. The article concludes with some strategic considerations and conclusions, as well as summary lists of tactics used and references for further reading on this case.</span></h2>
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<a href="https://www.academia.edu/17601869/Teaching_and_Organizing_in_For-Profit_Higher_Education_A_Kaplan_Story" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Read the article in full</span></a></h4>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255500622025378232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-1885931473785696122015-07-08T08:11:00.002-04:002015-07-08T08:36:54.956-04:00St. Giles ESL Teachers in San Francisco Unionize<h2>
Another ESL School in the US Organizes</h2>
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St. Giles ESL in San Francisco has become the 3rd ESL school in the US school to form a collective bargaining unit. Reports depict a high level of solidarity, boldness, and a masterfully executed strategy. Reportedly management was informed of the organizing drive when teachers called a staff meeting where more than 50% vocally announced their support for unionization.</div>
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St. Giles becomes the 2nd ESL school to organize under TNG-CWA, specifically The Pacific Media Workers Guild:<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Pacific Media Workers Guild</span></h3>
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We are the Pacific Media Workers Guild, Local 39521 of The Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America. We represent more than 1,200 journalists and other media workers, interpreters, translators, union staffs and freelancers.</div>
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So congratulations teachers and welcome to the family!<br />
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<a href="http://mediaworkers.org/esl-teachers-unionize/" target="_blank">Here is a brief article from their website:</a></div>
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ESL teachers unionize!</h1>
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<a class="author-name author" href="http://mediaworkers.org/author/kanderson/" rel="author" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" title="View all posts by Kat Anderson">Kat Anderson</a> <span class="vw-post-meta-separator" style="box-sizing: border-box;">—</span> <a class="vw-post-date updated" href="http://mediaworkers.org/esl-teachers-unionize/" rel="bookmark" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" title="Permalink to ESL teachers unionize!">July 7, 2015</a></div>
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In a vote of 16 to 5, teachers from St. Giles International in San Francisco, an English language school, voted today for Guild representation.</div>
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The unit started organizing last November around issues of lack of pay for preparation time, low wages, inconsistent hours of work, job security and lack of benefits.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255500622025378232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-88627735872230135532015-06-18T02:10:00.003-04:002015-06-18T13:27:54.403-04:00Congratulations to Kaplan teachers in Toronto!<br />
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On Monday, May 11th, 25 Kaplan ESL teachers in Toronto boldly stood up for themselves and commenced a strike action, one that would end up lasting 4 weeks. The main issue at hand was internal "performance matrix", which teachers and members of their union (Unifor Local 40) claimed was being used by management to randomly and unpredictably lay-off experienced and highly-skilled teachers in favor of shorter-term contract teachers with nearly identical student survey results. </h3>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26.5745429992676px; white-space: pre-wrap;">English language arts (ELA) teacher and test preparation instructor Brad Bartholomew, 45, said:</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>People with 10 to 15 years of experience are being laid off</b></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, instead of people who were hired in the last year,” </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Our employers recognize they have full rights to use progressive discipline in line with performance evaluation. They say this restricts them too much. That’s completely untrue, there’s no reason why they can’t manage us based on performance. In fact, we want to be managed on performance. We just don’t want it to be the sole basis for</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b> arbitrary dismissal</b></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“We want to be better teachers and deliver quality classes to students. But you could be a good performer in the bottom third of teachers and be arbitrarily laid off."
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Management's rhetoric of "not wanting to be restricted too much" is something they repeat like a broken record, and as any Kaplan teacher knows is just a poor justification they use when they want to make decisions that decimate their employee's livelihoods in order to raise quarterly earnings a few points or even a few fractions of a point. To paraphrase another part of their response: <b>"We only want to make sure that the students have the highest quality teachers possible."</b>
Anyone who has worked for Kaplan knows how hollow statements like these are. Teachers are judged, above all else, on student surveys given at the end of their time at Kaplan. These surveys however are given in English to non-native English speakers - and anyone with any sense of logic knows that a survey is as much of a <i>popularity contest </i>as it is an assessment with how much they've <i>actually learned.</i> A student may give a negative review to an amazing teacher who helped he or she improve their English tremendously, but perhaps the teacher had to be strict with the student and make them do things like (god forbid) put away their smartphones during class, or perhaps push them to work harder not only for their own benefit, but to keep their laziness from infecting the rest of the class. Or in some cases, a student may be upset at <i>management </i>or some other aspect of the school that's completely out of the teacher's hands, and reacts by giving poor marks across the board. In other words, negative survey results may stem from some form of resentment a student has against the teacher or the school itself, but is not an actual reflection of the quality of the education he or she received.
Another aspect of the "perfomance matrix" which defies all logic and common sense is that what separates a "quality" teacher from a "poorly performing teacher" is completely relative to the other teachers in the school. According to Unifor:
<i><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">"Kaplan (is) now using the clause to dismiss long-serving employees with high approval ratings. Six members of staff have been dismissed in the past 12 to 18 months. The </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><b>union</b></span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"> claims that a 0.1 per cent difference in performance evaluation scores could cause a junior employee to be retained over a senior member of staff with more than 10 years experience."</span></i>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="line-height: 26.5745429992676px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even if the surveys and "performance matrix" were an accurate judge of a teacher's ability to do what they're paid to do, teach, who's to say that the 25 teachers in Toronto aren't the best ESL teachers in the world? But since logically not all can be equally "the best", simply being one tenth of a point behind another colleague can put an amazing teacher on the chopping block. By that reasoning, Kaplan very well may have dismissed 6 of the finest ESL teachers to be found in the past 12-18 months. Also by that methodology, Kaplan can hire the worst ESL teachers in the world, but hey if the top 2/3 of the worst get higher survey scores than the bottom 1/3, they can tout the top performers as great teachers.
The truth of the matter is, however, is that Kaplan doesn't like to have experienced staff members because <i>they make more money</i> <i>than a new hire </i>because of annual raises.<i> </i>This not only goes for teachers, but for management as well. The other reason for this game they play is just a tool used to scare people into performing as they believe their jobs could vanish at any moment - as opposed to simply rewarding good performance with fair compensation for their good work.
In the end however, through their courageous actions, they managed to make the company meet their demands. After 4 weeks of work stoppage, the teachers of Toronto voted to accept a tentative agreement which Unifor says includes annual wage increases, vacation enhancements, and key improvements to language on job security they were fighting for. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="line-height: 26.5745429992676px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Going out on strike is a bold action, an action fraught with pitfalls and uncertainty. However their decision to stand up and stand together after feeling pushed around for long enough are truly inspirational, and shows what can be achieved through solidarity.</span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="line-height: 26.5745429992676px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>- Teachers for a Better Kaplan</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="line-height: 26.5745429992676px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sources:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="line-height: 26.5745429992676px; white-space: pre-wrap;">- <a href="http://www.hrmonline.ca/hr-news/performance-matrix-dispute-raises-dismissal-questions-for-hr-191276.aspx" target="_blank">"'Performance matrix’ dispute raises dismissal questions for HR" - HRM Online</a></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">- <a href="http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/esl-teachers-at-toronto-school-vote-in-favour-of-tentative-agreement-1.2410280" target="_blank">"ESL teachers at Toronto school vote in favour of tentative agreement" - CTV News Toronto</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">- This writer who has all too much experience being in the employment of Kaplan Intl. Centers. </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255500622025378232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-55023298065669933872015-01-02T16:24:00.001-05:002015-01-02T16:24:25.977-05:00National Adjunct Walkout Day<h2>
Feb 25th is National Adjunct Walkout Day.</h2>
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Rather than write another post, here is a link with a number of different posts on the event:<br />
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<a href="http://www.precariousfacultyblog.com/2014/11/nawd-links-from-bigreda-is-for-adjunct.html">http://www.precariousfacultyblog.com/2014/11/nawd-links-from-bigreda-is-for-adjunct.html</a><br /><br /><br />
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Search social media sites for the hashtag: <br /><br />#NAWD<br />
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- In Solidarity,<br />
Those in FavorThose in favorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714868771449479290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-53990783352333828242014-10-17T09:17:00.001-04:002014-10-17T09:17:55.033-04:00A Survey About Teachers' Working Conditions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This survey is more for the non KICNY teachers who visit this site. Though I suppose you could fill it out if you want to.</div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white;">Hello Teachers --</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;">Adjunct and contingent faculty work hard to help students succeed. You go the extra mile, often putting in long hours to prepare for classes or mentor students. You know how demanding your jobs are - but state and federal laws protecting employees are often based on faulty assumptions about the academic workforce that systematically underestimate the long hours contingent faculty work to earn their compensation. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;">These faulty assumptions have serious consequences for contingent faculty. For example, coverage under the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program depends on the number of hours worked. Even salaried professional employees like adjuncts may have rights under certain wage and hour laws if they work long hours for low pay. And some employers are exploiting adjunct faculty, requiring them to work for little or no pay with few legal consequences. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;">That's why we need to investigate faculty working conditions and advocate for improvements. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;">Help tell the full story of what's happening in academic labor by documenting and analyzing just how much work you are doing, and reporting when you are doing it for free. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;">Take this survey because the answers matter. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;">The data will be aggregated and used to support national and state policy initiatives to improve eligibility rules for certain benefit programs and to increase accountability for employers who are exploiting their faculty. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;">After completing the survey, you may be invited to take part in a confidential study to further explore adjunct working conditions and to do a follow-up interview. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our research coordinator Erica Rafford-Noyes at </span><a href="mailto:erica.rafford-noyes@seiu.org" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;" target="_blank">erica.rafford-noyes@seiu.org</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;">. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;">Once again, here's the link to the survey: </span><a href="http://action.seiu.org/page/content/office-hours-2/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;" target="_blank">http://action.seiu.org/page/<wbr></wbr>content/office-hours-2/</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;"> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;">Best regards, </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;">Malini Cadambi Daniel </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;">Campaign Director, Adjunct Action</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255500622025378232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-85691166599988739682014-10-17T08:24:00.003-04:002014-10-17T08:24:46.936-04:00ESL Teachers Unite!We've noticed another blog recently, called "ESL Teachers Unite".<br />
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The blog's posts are dedicated to encouraging ESL schools to organize, to help raise the abysmal standards teachers have to face. There are also some very handy links on the sidebar, much of it pertaining to California and Federal laws meant to keep teachers informed of their rights as workers.<br />
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They even used us an example in a post, as proof that ESL teachers can come together and fight for fair working conditions!<br />
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Link:<br />
<a href="http://esltu.blogspot.com/">http://esltu.blogspot.com/</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255500622025378232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-71974314010736493302014-05-16T06:48:00.000-04:002014-05-16T06:50:46.667-04:00Kaplan General Membership Meeting, May 21st<h2 align="center" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 18pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.nyguild.org/calendar-reader/events/kaplan-membership-meeting.html" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="tl_files/nyguild/email/KAPLAN_Present Progressive shop header.jpg" border="0" class="GH" height="203" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=2030dc58c5&view=att&th=1460077b8270a78a&attid=0.2&disp=emb&zw&atsh=1" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(229, 229, 229) 0px 0px 0px 1px; box-shadow: rgb(229, 229, 229) 0px 0px 0px 1px;" width="450" /></span></i></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><u></u><u></u></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Kaplan General Membership Meeting <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1575496487" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">May 21</span></span><u></u><u></u></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Our first membership meeting post-ratification! There are several important items of business to cover, so please make every effort to attend. Topics include filling vacated unit officer positions, reviewing the election process for shop stewards and outlining the process for receiving the medical subsidy. Come to the meeting and pick up a copy of your contract as well!<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Please join us on <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1575496489" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Wednesday, May 21st, 5:30-7:30</span></span>, Newspaper Guild, 1500 Broadway, 9th floor. Please RSVP by sending an <a href="mailto:info@nyguild.org" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">email</a> with your name. </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-75374279406608516372014-05-06T19:11:00.000-04:002014-05-06T19:11:34.546-04:00COCAL XI<br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">COCAL XI in New York City<br />August 4-6, 2014</span><div>
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The eleventh COCAL Conference will be held Monday, August 4 through Wednesday, August 6 at John Jay College in New York City. Plenaries, forums and workshops will deal with problems faced by contingent faculty in higher education in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, as well well as around the globe. Possible solutions and actions will be planned.</div>
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Teachers at for-profit schools like us at Kaplan are highly encouraged to attend.<br /><br /><a href="http://cocalinternational.org/" target="_blank">http://cocalinternational.org/</a></div>
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<a href="http://cocalinternational.org/events.html" target="_blank">Details about the NYC COCAL conference</a><br /><br /><h3>
About COCAL:</h3>
<br /><br /><img src="http://cocalinternational.org/images/montrealsteps02.jpg" /><br /><br />Montreal March<br />(Photo by Vicki Smallman)<br /><br />The Coalition of Contingent Academic Labor is a biennialconference and a network of North American activists working to improve higher education through the collective achievement of job reliability, livable wages, academic freedom, and time and resources for academic research and professional development for contingent academic laborers. COCAL is not affiliated with any single labor union and promotes grassroots contingent faculty organizing through events like Campus Equity Week. To achieve its aims, COCAL dedicates itself to alerting the broader community about the trends that undermine the tenets of higher education by staging media events, improving legislation concerning higher education and so-called accountability efforts, and identifying colleagues at institutions and assisting them in forming collective bargaining units and negotiating strong contracts.<br /><br />Because COCAL’s world view recognizes that the fight for contingent faculty parallels the struggles of other contingent workers, many members also participate in The North American Alliance for Fair Employment (NAFFE), a broader network concerned about the growth of contingent work in general. COCAL sees the strength and freedom of faculty as a key to maintaining accessible, quality higher education and, ultimately, free inquiry for a democratic society.<br /><br />
http://cocalinternational.org/events.html</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-61731892762267338882014-05-05T04:22:00.000-04:002014-05-05T04:22:17.292-04:00Articles of InterestRecent articles about us:<br />
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<a href="http://laborpress.org/sectors/education/3578-teachers-approve-first-contract-with-kaplan" target="_blank"><b>Teachers Approve First Contract with Kaplan</b> (Labor Press)</a><br />
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<a href="http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/16581/kaplan_teachers_contract_victory_may_light_organizing_spark_in_for_profit_e" target="_blank"><b>Kaplan Teachers Win Contract, Proving For-Profit Ed Can Be Unionized</b> (In These Times)</a><br />
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<a href="http://socialistworker.org/2014/05/01/how-kaplan-teachers-won" target="_blank"><b>How Kaplan teachers won</b> (Socialist Worker)</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/04/21/kaplan-faculty-union-sparks-new-interest-profit-unions-adjuncts#sthash.LpUMdb5w.dpbs" target="_blank"><b>Union Target: For-Profits</b> (Inside Higher Ed)</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-75786488352465717982014-04-17T23:40:00.001-04:002014-04-17T23:40:13.248-04:00Teachers Approve First Contract with Kaplan!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Press Release</div>
Apr 17, 2014<br /><br /><br />Teachers at Kaplan International Centers, who teach English as a Second Language (ESL) and are members of TNG-CWA Local 31003, voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to ratify a first contract that would provide raises, workplace protections and a voice on the job.(*)<br /><br />The teachers joined the Newspaper Guild of New York in June 2012 and are among a small handful of teachers in for-profit education who have union representation.(*)<br /><br />"By banding together to form a union and taking bold steps to fight for a first contract that provides basic workplace protections, these teachers, most of whom are in their 20s and 30s, are an inspiration to their generation," said TNG-CWA Local 31001 President Bill O'Meara. "These are educated workers who knew they deserved more than they were getting and knew they needed a union to get it."(*)<br /><br />The two-year contract includes a wage increase, access to a matching 401(k) plan, job security protections and more. It also would make some part-time teachers eligible for benefits for the first time.(*)<br /><br />"I am proud that my colleagues voted to ratify this contract, and for their actions over the past two years demanding that Kaplan provide basic fairness to teachers," said Emily Lessem, a teacher who chairs the Guild unit at the school. "While this contract is far from perfect, it will provide job protections and benefits and have a powerful impact on Kaplan teachers in New York City and across the country."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-49156973613588106362014-04-13T14:46:00.003-04:002014-04-13T14:49:37.300-04:00First Tentative Agreement with Management Reached; Teachers Will Vote This Wed. April 16<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;">Guild in tentative agreement<u></u><u></u></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;">with Kaplan on initial contract<u></u><u></u></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Guild reached a tentative contract with Kaplan International Centers yesterday that would provide protections and a voice in the workplace for its newest members. Kaplan Guild members will get to vote on the package on April 16.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Kaplan teachers initially sought out the Guild in hopes of ending what they saw as wrongful or mysterious terminations, and getting company-paid benefits. ESL teachers at Kaplan’s three New York City schools won union representation in June 2012 and have been at the bargaining table since November of that year seeking a contract. Most Kaplan teachers are part-timers with no paid vacations, holidays or sick time, and no medical insurance. If the tentative agreement is ratified, some of those part-time teachers will be eligible for those benefits.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The proposed deal is for a two-year contract and would provide:<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<u></u><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><u></u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;">“Just cause” language for terminations<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<u></u><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><u></u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;">A grievance and arbitration procedure<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<u></u><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><u></u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;">A clear progressive discipline process<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<u></u><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><u></u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;">Paid bereavement leave for all employees<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<u></u><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><u></u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;">A minimum hourly rate for all employees<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<u></u><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><u></u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;">Protections from subcontracting of work<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<u></u><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><u></u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;">Increase in the prep time rate to $12 per hour from the current $8 per hour (NYC minimum wage)<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<u></u><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><u></u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;">Creation of a new position, senior part-time teacher, which will be entitled to paid holidays, vacation and personal days<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<u></u><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><u></u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;">A company-paid subsidy of $20.33 per pay period toward the cost of health insurance for employees who purchased insurance coverage (pay-periods are bi-weekly)<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<u></u><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><u></u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;">A 401(k) matching contribution of 1 percent for part-time employees (currently, part-time employees are not eligible to participate in the 401(k) plan) <u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<u></u><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><u></u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;">A 401(k) matching contribution of 2 percent for full-time employees, with an increase to a match of 3 percent after five years of service.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Guild bargaining committee wanted to address many other issues, especially issues that affect part-time teachers. The committee was hoping to achieve paid vacations, holidays and sick time for <i>all</i> part-timers but Kaplan management would not agree. In the end, Kaplan agreed to provide vacation and holiday pay only to the seven current full-time teachers and the new group of senior part-time teachers (15 individuals who will be promoted if the contract is ratified). Due to a New York City sick leave law that took effect on April 1, all Kaplan employees now have paid sick time.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">While this is not the contract the bargaining committee or the Guild had hoped for, it still has some good provisions that all the Kaplan Guild members can be proud of. <u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">In addition, the bold action taken by Kaplan’s New York teachers, who voted for Guild representation by a two-to-one margin, had a great impact on Kaplan schools across the country. Because New York teachers had the courage to step up and seek a voice in the workplace, Kaplan teachers across the country have realized increases in compensation for prep time and other duties, new part-time positions were created in schools outside of New York, and all part-timers have access to a 401(k) plan and matching contributions. <u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">So, while the contract is not perfect and not where we wanted to be, it is a step in the right direction and a solid base from which to build for our next negotiations. It will be up to all Kaplan teachers to maintain the resolve and commitment to be strong and united when bargaining for the next contract begins in 2016.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">RATIFICATION VOTES SET</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Ratification meetings have been set for April 16 at the Newspaper Guild of New York, 1500 Broadway, Suite 900. You will need a picture ID to gain entrance to the building. Please note the lobby is under construction and a temporary entrance is located on 43<sup>rd</sup> Street adjacent to the Brooklyn Diner. Meetings will be held at 10 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Only Guild members may attend, speak or vote at any of the meetings. If you are not a member, you may sign a membership card at the door before entering the meeting. If you can’t attend one of the scheduled meetings, you are welcome to stop by any time after 10 a.m. on April 16 to cast your vote. We have attached a PDF of the proposed contract so you may review it before the ratification meeting. You may also view it by <a href="http://www.nyguild.org/tl_files/nyguild/documents/Kaplan/KIC%20Tentative%20Agreement2014.pdf" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">clicking here</a>. If you have any questions please contact Guild Representative Anthony Napoli by <a href="mailto:anapoli@nyguild.org" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">email</a> or phone at <a href="tel:212-730-1508" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank" value="+12127301508">212-730-1508</a>. You also may contact any of the members of the bargaining committee whose names appear below.<b><u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Guild Bargaining Committee<u></u><u></u></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Unit Chairperson </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="mailto:elessem@gmail.com" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Emily Lessem</a>, Midtown - <a href="tel:917-817-4293" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank" value="+19178174293">917-817-4293</a><br /><a href="mailto:shana.corrin@gmail.com" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Shana Dagenhart</a>, SoHo - <a href="tel:646-469-0325" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank" value="+16464690325">646-469-0325</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="mailto:mvbennett9@gmail.com" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Michael Bennett</a>, SoHo - </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="tel:917-743-8538" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank" value="+19177438538">917-743-8538</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="mailto:benjaminbush@yahoo.com" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Ben Bush</a>, formerly from ESB </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /><a href="mailto:jongblanchette@gmail.com" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Jon Blanchette</a>, formerly from ESB - <a href="tel:347-619-3391" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank" value="+13476193391">347-619-3391</a><br /><a href="mailto:jon@ltbprod.com" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Jonathan Ellis</a>, Midtown - <a href="tel:917-617-6870" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank" value="+19176176870">917-617-6870</a><br /><a href="mailto:paul.hlava@gmail.com" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Paul Hlava</a>, SoHo - </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="tel:718-844-3964" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank" value="+17188443964">718-844-3964</a></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-77299351838158626702014-04-07T22:13:00.002-04:002014-04-17T13:29:22.602-04:00Are Adjunct Professors the Fast-Food Workers of the Academic World?A question to ask yourself:<br />
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As ESL teachers, working for a purely for-profit corporation...Do we, or even should we, categorize ourselves as "adjunct faculty"? </h4>
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It is true that most who officially bear the job title of <i>adjunct faculty</i> teach at public or private/non-profit institutions, many of which, (ok <span style="font-weight: normal;">all </span>of which) are institutions of far greater esteem than Kaplan. They also typically courses that earn students credits towards a college degree of some sorts.<br />
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However, before you answer this question, read through an article I came across just the other day. An excerpt:<br />
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Are Adjunct Professors the Fast-Food Workers of the Academic World?</span></h2>
<i>By James Hoff<br />From The Guardian, Jan 24th, 2014</i></header><br />
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<i>I am what's called an adjunct. I teach four courses per semester at two different colleges, and I am paid just $24,000 a year and receive no health or pension benefits. Recently, I was profiled in the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/20/nyregion/crowded-out-of-ivory-tower-adjuncts-see-a-life-less-lofty.html?_r=0" style="color: black;">New York Times</a> <span class="print-footnote" style="font-size: xx-small;">[1]</span> as the face of adjunct exploitation, and though I was initially happy to share my story because I care about the issue, the profile has its limits. Rather than use my situation to explain the systemic problem of academic labor, the article personalized – even romanticized – my situation as little more than the deferred dream of a struggling PhD with a penchant for poetry.</i><br />
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<i>But the adjunct problem is not about PhDs struggling to find jobs or people being forced to give up their dreams. The adjunct problem is about the continued exploitation of a large, growing and diverse group of highly educated and dedicated college teachers who have been asked to settle for less pay (sometimes as little as $21,000 a year for full-time work) because the institutions they work for have callously calculated that they can get away with it. The adjunct problem is institutional, not personal, and its affects reach deep into our culture and society.</i><br />
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<i>Though there are tens of thousands of personal stories like mine of economic hardship and lives ruined or put on hold, it is not to these stories that we should turn when we consider the exploitation of adjuncts in academia, but to our universal sense of justice. For the continued exploitation of adjuncts is, to put it bluntly, nothing less than unjust. Here's why:</i></div>
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<a href="https://portside.org/2014-01-25/are-adjunct-professors-fast-food-workers-academic-world" target="_blank">Read the rest of the article HERE</a></h4>
Wow. Sound like a familiar eperience to any of you guys?<br />
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Now, having read through this article, let's return to the question at hand:<br />
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<b>As ESL teachers, do we, or even should we, consider ourselves adjunct professors? </b><br />
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As a particularly clever Englishman once said, "If an adjunct were not called an adjunct, would they not be any less exploited and underpaid?"<br />
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Or something like that.<br />
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The point is that the question, doesn't matter. What <i>does</i> matter however are the situations we both find ourselves in: Highly-skilled professionals, working difficult jobs in an industry with no lack of customer base, providing <i>the very service</i> that these customers shell out thousands of dollars for - yet being paid only just enough not to qualify for food stamps (unless you have a kid or two). We must be doing our jobs passionately as well, because why else would someone with face all the challenges of being a teacher, just to take home the yearly salary of a restaurant worker? At least when I was washing dishes in I could listen to my discman (Electronic Skip Protection!), and take home a free meal every night.<br />
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The similarities are eerie, Too eerie, in fact.<br />
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I don't which came first, the chicken or the egg, but it's obvious now that the non-profits and for-profits are now just learning from each other - learning ways to deprive honest people of an honest living wage for an honest an worthwhile job done. But what I do know however is that the journey of the downward spiral into a world where 18K per year w/ out sick days or holiday pay simply just becomes what people expect out of a teaching job - is a journey that we share together. As Galileo began to reveal, and further solidified by Newton, and Einstein - Everything is relative.<br />
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One can't help what would become of these great minds had they been born in today's world. Would their genius have been enough to earn them passage from the purgatory that is the existence of an adjunct? Well, sure, probably. I mean, they were pretty damn smart of course. But how many of those of only slightly less genius, though still smart enough to make great significant contributions in the various fields of scientific research and education, simply have had to run away away from adjunct purgatory all together in order to pursue more mundane fields, robbing us of their possible contributions towards the greater good of mankind, but were done to out of necessity to put food on the table and shoes on their kids' feet?<br />
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I don't want to be disingenuous here however. There are differences in having a PhD in microbiology and lecturing at a major university is different than being a Kaplan ESL teacher. Many of us have an MA, but typically a BA is all that is required. A degree from a good university is worth a helluva lot more than a certificate from Kaplan Intl. Centers (although laws of relativity are still applicable of course; depending on the job desired, evidence one is proficient in English might be ten times more valuable than that MA in Art History). However, our pay isn't based on how many courses we teach in a semester, we're straight wage per/hr workers. Part-time for us is around 25 <i>teaching</i> hours per week. We don't even have semesters even, we're open for business for the first 51 weeks of the year - then everybody gets laid off for a week from Christmas to New Year's eve.<br />
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I think, if nothing else, there's at least one to thing we could all agree with: We all know that <b>there's nothing wrong with <i>just</i> wanting to be a teacher, </b>and don't think our contributions to society merit a life of poverty.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-34270966536614760372014-03-04T07:40:00.000-05:002014-04-07T20:17:48.473-04:00Pigs on the WingPictures from the Feb 20th rally in front of the SoHo branch:<br />
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Local President Bill O'Mera and CWA brethren</div>
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Fired up, ready to go!</div>
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ABF: Always be flyering</div>
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Missed you Scabby. Next time!</div>
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Big Pig<br />
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Mini-Pigs</div>
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Greedy Pigs</div>
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Links to articles:<br />
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<a href="http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/media/2014/02/8540556/kaplan-international-teachers-seek-first-contract">http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/media/2014/02/8540556/kaplan-international-teachers-seek-first-contract</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.newsguild.org/node/3739">http://www.newsguild.org/node/3739</a><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-89206945843866555772014-02-21T16:11:00.001-05:002014-04-07T20:17:40.556-04:00Article in CapitalNew article in <i>Capital</i> about our battle with management:<br />
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<a href="http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/media/2014/02/8540556/kaplan-international-teachers-seek-first-contract">http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/media/2014/02/8540556/kaplan-international-teachers-seek-first-contract</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-67404082340641001192014-01-06T02:37:00.000-05:002015-10-18T22:56:43.923-04:00Mugshots<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-44566893027663350412014-01-06T01:18:00.001-05:002014-01-06T01:18:57.630-05:00Present Progressive No. 12 December 13 2013<h2>
<span style="font-size: large;">Kaplan, school of hard noes, rejects whatever teachers ask</span></h2>
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12/13/2013<br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Over and over at a Dec. 5 bargaining session, Kaplan negotiators said no to the marginal improvements in working conditions sought by a committee of Guild-represented English teachers.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On issues big and small, the answers were pretty much the same, no matter what the questions were. It was no to severance pay for layoffs (except those with less than a week’s notice), no to guaranteeing that probationary and temporary teachers would be laid off before any regular full- or part-timers, no to agreeing not to subcontract teaching work, no to arbitration rights on key issues and no to an “evergreen clause” that would keep the contract in effect after expiration during negotiations for a new one.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">What about holiday pay for the 90 percent of Kaplan teachers who work part time?<br />“We have addressed holidays,” said Kaplan management lead negotiator Patricia Dunn.<br />“You said no,” replied Guild Rep. Anthony Napoli.<br />“That’s right,” said Dunn.<br />And so it went. Because of Kaplan’s just-say-no stance, its inability to provide much-needed information on health insurance and its refusal to respond to wage proposals the Guild made on Oct. 25, the session ended before lunch, with Guild negotiators demanding that management come back with health insurance information and a counterproposal on key economic issues – and noting that “no” is not a counterproposal.<br />No new bargaining date was set.</span></h4>
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">HEALTH CARE DATA STILL MISSING</span></strong></h4>
Kaplan’s inability to provide key information about health care, which it blamed on its third party vendor, Augeo Benefits, is holding up the Guild’s consideration of management’s proposal that would provide a path to coverage for part-time employees who do not qualify for full-time insurance. Under its proposal, the company would provide a modest subsidy to part-time employees, which they could apply to their premiums after accessing public and private insurance exchanges through Augeo.<br />
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When pressed on why Augeo wasn’t providing the requested information, Kaplan legal counsel Stephanie Hart said, “It’s not like a real insurance company. They’re a clearing house.” </div>
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Hart expressed frustration with Augeo’s inability to provide information for services employees will be legally required to sign up for by March. But Dunn reminded Guild negotiators, “We don’t have to do this, nor do we have to subsidize the medical plan.” She said Kaplan employees can go find their own insurance on the exchanges if they don’t like what Kaplan is offering.</div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">SIX TECHNICAL, UNIMPORTANT COUNTERPROPOSALS</span></strong></h4>
Negotiators for Kaplan International Colleges (KIC) offered six counterproposals to earlier Guild proposals, but they were mostly highly technical and of little significance. KIC is a substantial entity within Kaplan, which now comprises most of Graham Holdings Co. <a href="http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=GHC.N" style="color: #0099ff; text-decoration: none;">[NYSE: GHC]</a>, the successor to the Washington Post Co. following the company’s recent sale of The Washington Post newspaper.<br />
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One of KIC management’s counterproposals merely reinforced the existing right of both parties to pursue legal action through the courts or the National Labor Relations Board, as opposed to resolving disputes through the more efficient arbitration process, which the Guild prefers. Management has repeatedly refused to subject many key contract provisions to arbitration, instead wanting discretion to do whatever it wants while leaving Guild-represented teachers with only the cumbersome court system to dispute any breeches of the contract.</div>
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On layoff procedures, the Guild had proposed requiring that temporary and probationary workers be dismissed before regular part-time or full-time teachers. The Guild’s proposal also included severance pay for laid-off employees based on length of service. But in its counterproposal, Kaplan refused to guarantee that it would lay off temporary and probationary employees before other employees. It also provided no severance pay except in cases where a worker had been laid off with less than one week’s notice, in which case Kaplan would agree to provide one week’s pay. The layoffs in question are different than Kaplan’s routine cutting of classes at periods of low enrollment.</div>
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On determining which part-timers would qualify for company-provided health coverage under the new federal health care law, the company rejected a Guild proposal that there be joint agreement on nailing down a measuring period of weekly work hours that currently ranges from six to 12 months, demanding instead that management have the final say on the length of the measuring period.</div>
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<strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Guild Bargaining Committee of Kaplan Teachers</span></em></strong></h4>
Emily Lessem, Unit Chair<br />Michael Bennett<br />Jon Blanchette<br />Ben Bush<br />Shana Dagenhart<br />Jon Ellis</div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-30164653750618956592013-12-01T00:12:00.000-05:002013-12-01T00:12:51.550-05:00English as a Foreign LanguageWanna learn English as a "foriegn" language? Kaplan Test Prep goes global and cuts costs, by outsourcing through "Certified Providers" in various countries. The result: <a href="http://www.lkggroup.com.ph/">web pages such as this one (in the Philippines)</a>.<div>
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As of Nov. 14th, France can now boast to have its own KCEP, the kind that sells "English as a foriegn language". Kaplan Test Prep had always operated directly in France until upper-management announced at 10 AM that there would be a "smooth transition". Employees had heard nothing of these plans until this time, and by 6 PM they found themselves locked out of their Kaplan email accounts and the website blocked. </div>
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Very smooth, indeed.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-33107272678145029662013-11-27T08:48:00.001-05:002013-11-27T08:49:00.519-05:00Present Progressive No. 11 Novermber 22 2013<h1 style="border-bottom-color: rgb(13, 59, 109); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #0d3b6d; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px;">
Kaplan: teachers 'well paid,' rejects paid holidays, vacations</h1>
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11/22/2013</div>
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One baby step forward and two giant steps back.</div>
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After making minimal movement for the first time on pay and benefits last month, Kaplan managers returned to the bargaining table on Nov. 15 still opposing paid holidays and vacations for part-time teachers and unwilling to revise their least-they-can-do wage proposal.</div>
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The stonewalling came after the Guild bargaining committee of Kaplan ESL teachers agreed to scale back its economic goals by lowering its proposed starting pay for teaching, its pay rates for non-teaching duties and its proposed pay increases for the term of the contract. </div>
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“There is a pretty compelling argument that these teachers are quite well paid,” said lead management negotiator Patricia Dunn in refusing to move management’s economic package in the teachers’ direction. “I believe we pay our teachers fairly and appropriately.”</div>
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Although Dunn said average pay for Kaplan teachers in the classroom was more than $21 an hour, their actual average is much lower. Since the company pays teachers different rates for different duties, including the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour for class preparation, the overall average is really $17.59 an hour, 18 percent less than the classroom average. Some teachers average as little as $14.06 an hour.</div>
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Guild negotiators, who had already accepted management’s $18 hourly minimum teaching rate for temps and newly hired employees still on their six-month trial periods, reduced their minimum pay proposal for teachers with four-year degrees who had passed their trial periods to $20 from $22. Management, however, still wants to be able to pay those teachers as little as $18 an hour for classroom time.</div>
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On class prep and other non-classroom duties, Guild negotiators cut their proposal to $12 from $13. Management is offering only $10 for prep work and essay grading, even though it raised the prep rate to $12 for teachers in every other U.S. city shortly after New York teachers voted for Guild representation in June 2012.</div>
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The Guild also cut its proposed pay increase to 3.5 percent for each of three years in the proposed contract from 5 percent, while management is sticking with the 1 percent increase it proposed in each of next two years for employees with a teaching rate of less than $25 an hour.</div>
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In its all-encompassing response to management's proposal, the Guild committee also reduced vacations for part-timers with at least one year of service to 10 days a year from a length-of-service scale that ranged from two weeks to five weeks, continued to ask for seven paid holidays for part-timers and reduced the number of teachers who would be eligible for company health care coverage by raising the number of hours needed to qualify to 20 hours a week from 17.</div>
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“We have moved significantly in a lot of areas,” Guild Rep Anthony Napoli told management. “I don't think we're all that far apart.”</div>
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<strong>NO PAY PROPOSAL FROM MANAGEMENT</strong>But Dunn disagreed. “We don't think the proposal we got moves the needle anywhere near where it needs to be,” she said. “We are not willing to respond with a wage proposal given what we’ve seen today.”</div>
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Dunn replaced management negotiator Jay Kennedy after Kaplan’s parent company, the Washington Post Co., sold The Washington Post newspaper where Kennedy worked. The parent company said on Nov. 18 it would change its name to Graham Holdings Co., effective Nov. 29.</div>
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Management’s steadfast refusal to improve the pay and benefits of its teachers, 90 percent of whom work part time, provoked a rare outburst from the Guild’s usually composed counsel, Rich Corenthal.</div>
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“You have to step up and give them some basic benefits, some basic compensation,” Corenthal admonished the management bargaining team. “Stop being greedy.”</div>
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Management also refused to agree to use arbitration to resolve disputes over the appropriateness of work assignments or discipline, except for extreme cases where teachers have lost pay because they were suspended or fired. Similarly, Kaplan negotiators refused to agree to a joint teacher-management committee to determine how teachers should be evaluated, with Dunn calling the evaluations “a fundamental management right.”</div>
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On paid sick leave, management is still unwilling to do anything more for part-time teachers than the law requires. Beginning next April, New York City will require that all full-time and part-time employees accumulate one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours they work, up to a maximum of 40 hours per year, which could be carried over into the following year if they are not used.</div>
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“We have a business model,” said Dunn. “Most of these teachers are part-time by choice.”</div>
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Guild bargaining committee member Shana Dagenhart disagreed. “Kaplan has made a choice to keep the workforce part-time.”</div>
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The next bargaining session is scheduled for Dec. 5.</div>
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<strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Guild Bargaining Committee of Kaplan Teachers</span></em></strong><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></em></strong>Emily Lessem, Unit Chair<br />Michael Bennett<br />Jon Blanchette<br />Ben Bush<br />Shana Dagenhart<br />Jon Ellis</div>
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Those in favorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02714868771449479290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-43867749729649542772013-10-17T15:10:00.000-04:002013-11-27T08:48:39.686-05:00The Scabby Way<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Meet our new mascot!</div>
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The Scabby Kaplan Way, equipped with everyone's favorite Screen Saver Power Amulet.</div>
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Coming soon to a New York street corner.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-70309206283283035682013-10-16T18:59:00.002-04:002015-07-25T19:17:07.475-04:00Why We Unionized - A message from Toronto <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">A Kaplan teacher from Toronto shared a message with us recently, one that we feel needs to be heard by more people. Here's what he told us when we asked why Toronto had decided to unionize in 2011:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <i>We unionised in Toronto because, Kaplan having bought out our family-owned school, we quickly saw the difference between a school which valued its teachers and one which did not. We unionised because our field has highly educated, trained and dedicated employees, a fact which Kaplan no doubt knows yet whose culture and practices attempt to deny. We unionised because this is not a transitory job and treating it as such is a disservice both to our students and the profession; because what we do is allowing others to live incredibly comfortable lives, and because there's no reason we should be willing to accept a sliver of the pie we’re baking. </i></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><i> We’re now into our third year of a signed collective agreement. We have a real salary, paid vacations, benefits, job security; in essence, signs of something a career might actually be made of. It wasn’t easy, and it’s not perfect now, but it is a wonderful start; and I’m convinced it’s far and away better than what would have been.</i></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><i><a href="mailto:nyenpo@hotmail.com">John Robertson</a></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><i>ESL Teacher, KPLI Toronto</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">(KPLI stands for Kaplan Pacific Language Institute, which is the name it gives to its ESL schools in Canada)
hi lou
</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-56846012786688440982013-10-10T13:46:00.001-04:002013-10-10T13:47:52.649-04:00The Kaplan Teachers<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/1jDLwqutVW4" width="459"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-82729541313212356532013-09-20T06:21:00.001-04:002013-09-20T06:25:50.571-04:00Congratulations Micropower Teachers!<h3>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Congratulations to Micropower's teachers--both of English (ESL) and those in professional training--on their successful unionization vote over the weekend! Press release from New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) included below:</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Teachers at Career School in Chelsea Vote Decisively for Union Representation</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">New York, NY – September 14, 2013 – Management response to Hurricane Sandy was the galvanizing moment for many teachers at the Manhattan branch of Micropower Career Institute. Despite a fierce union busting effort by the owners of this family-run proprietary school (Sam Hiranandey, President and Lalit Chabria, Vice-President), teachers made their desire for unionization clear as a strong majority voted for union representation in an election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The West 25th branch of Micropower markets ESL programs especially for students seeking visas for studying in the States, and offers Dental Assistant, Medical Assistant, and Computer Networking certificate programs. Tuition – which can run over $13,000 for some programs – isn’t cheap, but Micropower pays most of its teachers $15 to $18 per hour without any benefits, even for those who work full time (or more) hours. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The owners’ profit margin became especially galling to many teachers after Hurricane Sandy when, despite not returning student’s tuition monies for the seven days the branch was closed, Micropower management refused to pay teachers for those days when school was not in session. A letter to management signed by about a third of the faculty which read in part, “…since most of New York’s educational institutions have acknowledged the efforts of their teachers by compensating them for lost wages, we the ESL faculty, appeal to the administration to acknowledge our contributions by compensating us for lost wages during the hurricane” was ignored and shortly thereafter teachers contacted organizers at New York State United Teachers for help with starting a union drive. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Management retained the notorious anti-worker law firm of Jackson Lewis and aside from the typical barrage of letters sent to workers, management also made them sit through near daily group and one-on-one meetings, often directing teachers to leave their students with writing assignments during the two to three-hour-long meetings they were forced to attend. The Union filed close to half a dozen charges against management during the campaign for alleged violations of the National Labor Relations Act including illegal surveillance of employees, retaliation for union activity, and illegal transference of work. Despite all the pressure, workers voted 21-12 in favor of union representation. Now they will turn their focus to preparing for negotiations.</span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Contact: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Daniel Esakoff or Julie Berman </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">New York State United Teachers</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">organize@nysutmail.org </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Phone: 212-989-3470 </span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Fax: 212-989-8154 </span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-30680419636313815112013-09-08T06:07:00.000-04:002013-09-09T00:30:26.155-04:00"I Want to Jump to $22 an Hour."<div style="text-align: center;">
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Well, if being deemed unworthy of vacation time by our employers wasn't bad enough, now they're telling us that we should jump up and down for it. </div>
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It's a social media publicity stunt called <a href="http://www.kaplaninternational.com/l/jump-to-kaplan/en/index.html">"Jump to Kaplan</a>". Post pictures of yourself jumping on Instagram, write the words "I want to jump to <a city with a Kaplan>", insert the predetermined hashtags - you get the idea. Best jumper gets a seven day vacation. Obviously this marketing campaign's intended targets are prospective students, but for some reason the powers that be saw fit to give us the chance to participate.<br />
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"I want to jump to $22 an hour" one teacher joked, when hearings this.</div>
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We even get two hashtags to use, #jumptokaplan <i>and </i>#staffjumptokaplan. However, could they really not foreseen the irony in having employees jumping up and down for a chance to win what's really just a fundamental benefit, one that they've been deprived of? What's the next one going to be, post pictures of your worst injuries to win a trip to a doctor's office? (hashtag #JumptotheHospital). And let's not forget that since the "winning" teacher probably isn't going to have five unused vacation days to cash in during this trip either, PB & J and Ramen noodles will still probably be joining them in their travels.</div>
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All that said, teachers in NYC are actually excited to participate. Check out some submissions by </div>
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instagrammer Jumptoabetterkaplan: </div>
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="710" scrolling="no" src="//instagram.com/p/d9DovRt8yd/embed/" width="612"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3374677941098538198.post-62898192528231196182013-09-02T19:37:00.002-04:002013-09-02T19:41:43.361-04:00Present Progressive No. 10 August 28th 2013<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Kaplan makes small agreements but refuses teachers basic rights </span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">08/28/2013</span><br />
<br />After over a month lapse in negotiations, the Guild and Kaplan International Center’s (KIC) negotiating teams sat down at the table last Thursday to resume discussions on many of the outstanding proposals such as sick time, leaves of absence, safety and security, and bereavement leave. Despite reaching some tentative agreements at the session, KIC continued to repeat their mantra of “not interested” when it came to giving teachers basic rights.<br /><br /><h3>
PAY:</h3>
<br />Although the Guild tried to reintroduce discussion about wages, KIC’s bargaining team stated they had “no change” and offered no counter-proposal despite our last wage proposal which came closer to meet KIC. At the July 18 session, we reached a tentative agreement with management: accepting their starting rate of $18 per hour for new hires and temporary employees. However, we only accepted this rate for the 6 month probationary period, after which the employee would jump to a higher pay rate. Although they “appreciated” this proposal which met them on their starting rate, they were unwilling to further discuss wages, a central issue for Guild members.<br /><br /><h3>
BEREAVEMENT LEAVE:</h3>
<br />KIC continues to refuse to give part-timers paid bereavement leave – a standard in the Guild’s other contracts. In their proposal, they offer full-timers up to 5 days of paid bereavement leave for immediate family yet they won’t even offer a single day to part-time employees who make up more than 90% of their workforce.<br /><br /><h3>
SICK TIME:</h3>
<br />After much back and forth about sick time in the last few sessions, KIC's last proposal offers a complicated system for accruing sick hours. After we discussed KIC's proposal at length during a caucus, we offered KIC a simple system of awarding 40 hours of sick time for part-timers and 48 hours for full-timers at the beginning of each year with no carryover in lieu of employees having to earn 1 hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked. This would be straightforward for the employee and would simplify Kaplan's record keeping of sick time. The management reps said they will get back to us.<br /><br /><h3>
SAFETY AND SECURITY:</h3>
<br />The Guild and KIC reached a tentative agreement on the entirety of the Safety and Security Article which addresses workplace surveillance and drug testing.<br /><br />We've come a long way from KIC's initial proposal which had both the right to install cameras everywhere except the bathroom and randomly drug test employees. KIC has now agreed to inform the Guild prior to installing any new surveillance equipment and new equipment will only be installed in the event of an investigation. Once the investigation has been completed, KIC has agreed to remove the surveillance equipment. A full agreement was also reached on KIC’s right to establish a drug testing program. If a program is to be implemented, KIC must negotiate with the Guild on the terms of the program, and employees could only be tested if there is reasonable suspicion. The program would also include an Employee Assistance Program and a period of time for employees who test positive for drugs or alcohol to correct the problem. <br /><h3>
<br />PERSONAL LEAVES OF ABSENCE:</h3>
<br />The Guild agreed to KIC's proposal to continue with the 90 days leaves of absence for both full-timers and part-timers until they change their company-wide policy to 30 days leave provided that they include a clause which would allow managers to allow longer leaves at their discretion. This would allow employees to continue to take advantage of maybe the only benefit of working at Kaplan: the ability to take off extended periods of time.<br /><br /><h3>
STALLED PROGRESS:</h3>
<br />Although both parties were able to come to some agreements across the table, KIC continues to skirt around the outstanding issues such as wages, vacation pay, holiday pay and health insurance. They also hold steadfast to several unreasonable, and even inhumane, positions as illustrated in their refusal to pay part-timers for bereavement leave. In addition, KIC has proposed an employee who is absent from work for three or more days without notifying KIC, will be deemed as voluntarily resigning on the fourth day of such an absence without recourse to the grievance and arbitration process. The Guild has brought to their attention that certain circumstances, such as hospitalization, might make it impossible for an employee to contact KIC but management did not seem to care. Not only would the employee lose their job, but because they “voluntarily resigned,” the employee would be ineligible for unemployment and the Guild would not be able to arbitrate the issue under management’s proposal.<br /><br />We hope to hear more from KIC about some of the key items in the next bargaining session, scheduled for Friday, September 20, 2013. <div>
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<i>Corresponding update from Management:</i></div>
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<b>POSITIVE TALKS, SOME PROGRESS<u></u><u></u></b></div>
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In a bargaining session last Thursday, KIC and the Guild continued to make some progress in a few areas, and talks were professional and constructive. We reached one more tentative agreement last week: the parties agreed to a provision that KIC had proposed on “Safety and Security,” which allows KIC to take appropriate measures, in consultation with the Guild, to protect the safety and security of KIC’s employees and property.<u></u><u></u></div>
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On the economic front, KIC and the Guild have also made some limited progress:<u></u><u></u></div>
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<b><i>Wages</i></b>: After much discussion, KIC and the Guild agreed in July to set the “contract minimum” rate for teaching hours at $18/hour. That means that KIC can hire new teachers at that rate in the future, while preserving the right to pay teachers above that rate based on skills and experience. The parties remain apart on other wage provisions, including the non-teaching prep time rate, which KIC has proposed to increase to $9/hour from the current $7.25/hour. <u></u><u></u></div>
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<b><i>Benefits: </i></b>The parties have spent a lot of time discussing benefits for part-time employees. After KIC made a proposal in June to provide up to 15 hours of paid sick leave to certain part-time employees, New York City passed a new “Sick Time” law that will require employers in New York City, on or after <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_678689893" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">April 1, 2014</span></span>, to give part-time employees up to 40 hours of paid sick leave a year. To ensure compliance with the new law, KIC modified its sick leave proposal to allow eligible part-time employees in New York City to earn up to 40 hours of paid sick leave a year when the law becomes effective; rather than reduce sick leave for its full-time employees, who now earn more than the new law requires, KIC has proposed to allow current full-time teachers to continue to earn up to six days of sick leave each year.<u></u><u></u></div>
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While we made some progress last week, several important topics still need to be addressed at the table, including important proposals on Management and Academic Rights, Grievance and Arbitration, and Access. Over the course of several sessions, KIC has asked the Guild to make counter-proposals in these important areas, and we hope that they will be forthcoming at our next meeting scheduled for <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_678689894" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">September 20</span></span>. As we told the Guild last week, we need to see movement on the important operational issues that impact KIC’s business and that inform the economics of a collective bargaining agreement with the Guild.<u></u><u></u></div>
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KIC’s Bargaining Committee</div>
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