Angry

Yesterday I was too angry to write a proper post. (Not that my posts are proper, really, but you know what I mean.) This afternoon I find that I am still angry. I do not want to get emotional on here - emotion is generally boring to read (especially mine - I tend to go on and on) so instead I'll explain why I am angry.

A few weeks ago a colleague found out she needed major surgery.

The university where she works part-time (the same day as I work there) responded by being very sympathetic and telling her not to worry, they'd find somebody to cover the five days she will miss. She is only there once a week. There were six weeks of semester left when she told them about her illness, and she was able to work one more week and sort out the details of passing her classes along to another teacher.

However, a couple of days before she went into hospital she received an envelope from the university containing a resignation letter for her to sign, and informing her that she will not be paid for the second half of June. This also means that she will not be paid over the vacation. Our pay is calculated on a monthly basis. (People who work for universities that pay per class, and which don't pay during the vacations, are paid more to compensate for this.) This resignation was presented as just a formality. They would rehire her in September, for the second semester, they said.

New teachers at that school, we were informed two months ago, will be hired at a lower rate of pay than existing teachers. Existing teachers' pay is not affected. (We were supposed to be grateful for this.)

Those are the facts.

We suspect that, besides getting out of paying her for the vacation, the university wants to rehire her in September at the new, lower rate of pay, although they have not actually said this. She has been working there for years with no pay increase AT ALL. We all have. (It is the lowest paying of all the places I work already.)

Fortunately we formed a union branch there a couple of years ago, having heard rumours that our working conditions were going to change. Subsequently we were told by the university that our working conditions would not change, and that the rumours were wrong. However, I suspect that the only reason our pay was not cut this year was that they were afraid of the union. Many universities have cut teachers' pay, and if there is no union there is not much anybody can do about it.

When we formed the union, only four people joined. Nobody wants to 'make trouble,' and we were seen as troublemakers by the other teachers. (This reputation of union members is fostered carefully by the media - and practically everybody else - here. Unions disturb the Wa.)

My ill colleague is one of the four teachers who joined. Another colleague is the branch chair.

Part-time workers get no sick leave under the Labour Standards Law (or whatever it's called).

However, workers who work one day a week for more than four and a half years (why the odd number?) are entitled to three paid days off a year. These carry over for a year. This means that our colleague is currently entitled to six paid days off. At the time of the union branch formation, the university signed an agreement stating they would abide by the Labour Standards Law. They also assured us, personally, that they greatly appreciated us and wanted to treat us well. They seemed somewhat hurt that we wanted to form a union branch there at all.

They appreciate their part-time teachers so much that when one of them becomes ill they respond by telling her that they will stop paying her, a couple of days before she is due to go into hospital for major surgery. They did not even tell her to her face. They did it by letter, after she had taught her last class before going into hospital. The whole thing makes me sick with anger, and it is particularly worrying that she almost signed the letter, as she was feeling harassed and busy with last-minute arrangements, and it was presented to her as a reasonable thing to do. Fortunately her daughter contacted the union branch chair, who was able to tell her to stop her mother from signing the resignation letter. We told her to hold off until we had contacted the union to find out what her rights were.

This is a very wealthy, private university. It has no problems attracting students, as many universities do, now. It is full of the rich children of rich alumni.

The union chairperson has contacted the union, and we are hoping that the whole thing will be sorted out without any fuss. The university prides itself on its old-fashioned 'gentlemanly' reputation, and they will not want publicity that paints them as money-hungry ghouls, feeding off the misfortune of an ill, vulnerable employee. This is, of course, exactly what they are.

Gentlemanly, MY ARSE.



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