Instructors at Pittsburgh’s English Language School (ELS) branch became the first in the country to unionize, citing poor working conditions and uncompensated hours.
For years, instructors at ELS, all without contracts, have taught an intensive curriculum aimed at teaching foreign students to speak English fluently.
“People are unified and fired up,” instructor Jennifer Franz said. “If they stick around, they know we need this to work.”
Instructors at ELS teach four-week sessions all year round. These sessions last four to six hours a day, five days a week. They teach all aspects of the English language: reading, writing, speaking and listening.
About a year ago, instructors from Pittsburgh’s ELS branch approached the United Steelworkers about unionizing. Negotiations between the newly unionized instructors and ELS began soon thereafter.
The instructors raised a multitude of questions that went unanswered by ELS and their parent company, the Berlitz Corporation.
The issues range from simply having the same books to teach from as students, to lack of office space and unpaid hours.
Instructors are told what to teach by ELS, and many times, they are notified the night before a session begins. Students are not equipped with the proper books to pass the tests either. What is on the tests is not what is being taught from the books.
New instructors are not trained by ELS.
“They expect us to train new instructors on our lunch breaks,” Seklecki said. “Sometimes new instructors don’t even last a day. We had one person go to Market Square for lunch and never come back.”
Instructors are not given a contract either, making speaking out about these issues risky.
“It makes it a stressful place for both instructors and students, but that’s why all these teachers are getting together to change it,” Franz said.
Books aren’t the only materials instructors say they are missing.
“We teach a guided research class, and students don’t even have computers with Microsoft Word to complete their research paper,” Franz said.
Conditions aren’t much better outside the classroom either. Because of the intensity of the material and the students’ schedules, many instructors work with students on their own time. Time they are not compensated for by ELS.
“We want to be compensated for the work we do,” Franz said. “There’s no acknowledgment of what we do.”
Their office space on the eighth floor of West Penn Hall is also the subject of grievances from instructors.
“I’ve worked here for two years, and I don’t even have a desk,” said instructor Sue Germaine.
Germaine also noted that ELS officials have only met with the instructor’s union four times in the past year.
“There’s been no meeting with the full ELS team since January, and the last meeting we had with all of them was only an hour long,” Germaine said.
“It gives us a sense that they aren’t listening,” Franz chimed in.
Because of the poor working conditions, ELS does not employ many substitute teachers, making it difficult for instructors to take time off.
“I once asked for eight hours off, and they said no,” Germaine said. “So I filed a complaint.”
Seklecki noted that the program benefits Point Park because many of its students will attend college there after they graduate from ELS.
“Most of our students come from Saudi Arabia,” Seklecki said. “And a lot of the places they come from do not have unions, but they’re supporting us here because they know how hard we work.”
ELS could not be reached for comment on the negotiations.
“There are changes that can be implemented that would benefit everyone,” Seklecki said. “People who get into this job really want to help students, and that’s why we’re doing this.”
