Kaplan Teachers Union is a collective bargaining unit of English as a second language teachers at Kaplan International Colleges in New York City.[1] It was voted into effect on June 7, 2012 and certified by the National Labor Relations Board. The members are represented by The Newspaper Guild of New York, Local 31003 CWA.[2]
Unionization was unprecedented in the for-profit ESL industry, making the Kaplan Teachers Union the first recognized bargaining unit for teachers in the for-profit language industry in the United States. In the US for-profit education industry, it is just one of three such units, the other two being Art Institute schools in New York and Philadelphia.[3] The first Kaplan school to organize internationally was the Auckland, New Zealand campus, in May 2008.[4] Other Kaplan ESL schools to have organized include Chicago, Vancouver, Toronto, and Liverpool.
Kaplan International Colleges is a branch of Kaplan, Inc., which is a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company.[5] Kaplan, Inc. was founded in New York by the teacher and tutor Stanley Kaplan and provides higher education, test preparation, professional training courses and language instruction.[6] Kaplan International Colleges teaches English in forty language schools in seven countries around the world.[7] Kaplan, Inc. earned a revenue of US$2.9 billion in 2010[8] and has since acquired language schools in Singapore, Japan, Australia and Spain.[9]
The Kaplan Teachers Union's grievances include low pay, no sick days nor affordable health care.[10] Pay is as low as $16 per hour for teaching, and minimum wage for preparation work and grading.[11]