Anna worked at a private school where she had taught English classes and acted as an international coordinator for 10 years. Over her time at the school, she had an issue with one of the JTEs (Japanese teacher of English) who often was absent from team teaching classes or generally unattentive – and was also on the admissions board.
Though raising the classroom issues with the principal resolved some of the conflict, Anna continued to butt heads with the JTE over concerns with the international department. He wanted to keep the study abroad programme open to all students, but doing so led to issues with the department’s credibility: some students who had previously been sent abroad without having enough skills to manage the challenge. Nevertheless, Anna did her best to remain professional towards the JTE.
But then management changed: a new principal was hired, the international department gained a new director, and the JTE was promoted to vice-principal – where he shed all semblance of professionalism toward Anna.
Now vice-principal, the former JTE refused to speak to her in English. When Anna instead spoke Japanese, he claimed he couldn’t understand her. He regularly began downplaying her role to the point that the new principal thought that she wasn’t really needed, making the work she had been doing regularly for the past several years all the more difficult.
To make matters worse, the new international department lacked background knowledge and experience about the programme, forcing Anna to train him – while being told she needs to let the director lead. It was infuriating, but she tried her best to train the new director while staying hands-off on leadership.
Then came the breaking point: Anna was informed that they were debating not recontracting her for the next year because the school wanted to eliminate one of the ALT positions. The vice principal wasn’t clear when the decision would be made. Worse, he seemed to smirk when she asked if she should consider finding other employment! It was clear that she was being targeted.
Workplace harassment is defined by law as an abuse of power, unreasonable scope, and deterioration of a healthy work environment. Anna was clearly affected by all three, and worse: as others shared their stories of how it was becoming difficult to work under the new leadership, she saw that she wasn’t the only one facing this treatment.
Unfortunately, workplace culture is an issue that is very difficult to change, and the ties that the leadership had with the owners of the school in this case made reconciling issues in this case all the more unlikely. Anna, recognizing this, started to quiet quit. Little by little she excused herself from more of the extra duties she usually participated in until she found another work opportunity and ultimately resigned. It was a tough choice to make, but she realized her mental health was worth more than any paycheck there could provide.
Though it is more often than not the decision workers ultimately make, quitting wasn’t Anna’s only option. Workplace culture is something that cannot be changed quickly or easily, so it is necessary to organize your colleagues to realize change. The board of directors and owner of a school are much more likely to listen to a group than an individual – no matter how experienced the individual may be – when they collectively demand improvements. Get a group together to beat it!
If you are tired of the harassment you and your colleagues face in your workplace and ready to push for change, you might want to try our (free!) Individual Organizing Training. Sign up for here: https://sp.genu.cc/outline
Or if you already have a small group of members interested in creating a better workplace, contact us at union@generalunion.org
Part 2 – Psychological Aggression through Micromanagement