Kaplan Teachers Choose The Newspaper Guild

Source: Broadcast Union News

Teachers at Washington Post Co. educational unit vote for representation by Newspaper Guild of New York

NEW YORK , June 7 – New York City-based teachers of English as a second language at the Washington Post Co.'s [NYSE: WPO] educational subsidiary, Kaplan Inc., voted today for workplace representation by the Newspaper Guild of New York, becoming the company’s first employees to unionize.

In a government-supervised election, the teachers, based at the three Manhattan facilities of Kaplan International Centers, voted for the Guild by a 2-1 margin, despite an intense anti-union campaign by management that included a steady stream of leaflets and regular work-time meetings with managers and outside consultants, all urging them to vote no.

“These are professional employees, many with masters degrees, who are paid at an assortment of illogical hourly rates as low as the $7.25 federal minimum wage,” said Guild President Bill O'Meara. “They know they should be treated better and they deserve a lot of credit for maintaining their focus through Kaplan's incredibly intense campaign.”

The National Labor Relations Board, which conducted the election, is expected to certify the Guild as the bargaining agent for the group of about 95 teachers after seven days. No other Kaplan teachers in the United States are union-represented. The results require Kaplan to bargain in good faith with the Guild for a contract covering the teachers’ employment terms.

FULL story at link.



Read more: http://broadcastunionnews.blogspot.com/2012/06/kaplan-teachers-choose-newspaper-guild.html

---

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zR0ovADyClA/T9EVW5hBlQI/AAAAAAAACr4/Xr79P_fq6Ac/s400/Kaplan-We--Won-2+to1.jpg
Kaplan ESL Teachers celebrate along with Newspaper Guild staff after winning the representation election.