Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Second English teacher union founded in Incheon

In an attempt to stop the numerous problems English teachers face in Korea, several teachers at a hagwon in Incheon have formed a union to deal with this issues. The idea of making a giant union for foreign English teachers has never been that popular in the ESL circle. Outside of the obvious high turnover problems, its pretty easy to see the government cracking down on such union due to the ambiguity of Korean law on what "political activity" actually means for foreign workers. ATEK in some ways is suppose to act like an alternative, but its history has been uneven in certain areas and seems to be more than a place where English teachers can meet up. For the most part, English teachers in Korea are pretty much left to their own devices even when it comes to clear violations of their contract. Even public jobs aren't guaranteed as the last minute canceling of numerous ESL teachers last August showed us. It is a cutthroat industry that can tarnish how someone views Korea permanently.

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