Well, And What Would You Do In A Situation Like That?

A Problem in Three Portions

The Situation:
The situation is a sticky one and requires some background. So, let’s start at the beginning, shall we?

Last August after we moved here, but before school started, Blake and I were both frantically searching for jobs. Blake was the first of us to find one. Sylvan Learning Center hired him to teach math (because apparently all you need to do be “qualified” to teach math is demonstrate competency in the subject, which Blake not surprisingly did), and eventually study skills, as well as work daily in their newly designed “Homework Room.” They promised him between 10-20 hours a week, with the strong possibility of a few more by doing some simple admin work in the office. The job seemed to be a perfect one for a graduate student, plus the center was located just a 5-minute walk from our apartment.

Sylvan started breaking their promises almost immediately. They hired another person to run the Homework Room, and Blake was never allowed to do the admin work. After a few months, they started shorting him on hours so that by Christmas, he was considering himself lucky to be given 10 hours a week. Blake voiced his concerns on more than one occasion, but was always given the response that hours were short for everyone. It was easy to see, though, that hours were only short for Blake – I mean, for crying out loud, the schedule was posted for everyone to see!

With the new year came a shift in management and the hope of improvement. Instead, things got worse. They hired a handful of new math teachers and Blake’s hours were cut even more. By April he was down to 2 hours a week. Many times we (and I say “we” because, though I did not work there, my emotions were becoming more and more invested) considered having Blake just quit, but another promise for more hours came shortly thereafter. (Besides, it is not an easy thing to find any job in a town as economically depressed as Muncie is.)

With the closing of the public schools in early June for summer came more open business hours for Sylvan. Sylvan’s employees were told that 20 hours a week minimum was not unlikely. Not wanting to put all of his eggs in one basket, Blake still went ahead and found another part-time summer job with the hope of being able to earn 30-40 hours a week.

But Sylvan started throwing us curveballs again. Not only was Blake only scheduled for 6-10 hours a week, he started receiving regular phone calls from Sylvan informing him that students had called to cancel their sessions so Blake would not have anyone to teach if he came in. Sometimes these phone calls came the night before, but more and more often they came 20 minutes before he was scheduled to come in. Lately they’ve stopped bothering to call at all, preferring to wait until Blake has already arranged the rest of his life around his work schedule at Sylvan. Can I just tell you how frustrating this is? Because it’s not just Blake’s life they’re throwing through loops – it’s mine as well.

A few weeks ago, Blake, having grown tired of playing their game, spoke to Dan, the manager. This time he voiced his concerns more strongly only to be told that Dan considered Blake to be one of his best teachers. He didn’t want to lose Blake and he was currently working to see about getting Blake trained to teach reading as well as math and study skills. He had to work on pulling a few strings (because technically you’re not supposed to teach reading without a teaching license) but he didn’t think there’d be a problem. He told Blake to call him the week following to schedule a time for training. After many unsuccessful attempts which included a handful of unreturned phone calls, a paid 2-hour training session was scheduled for yesterday morning.

Why I’m Mad Today:
On Tuesday we came home to a message from Dan saying that they had some cancellations and they again didn’t need Blake to teach Wednesday morning. Blake called back to make sure that the reading training was still on, as well as the status of the 4 evening hours he was scheduled for. Apparently, only a few days after scheduling it, Dan had forgotten about it and asked could they reschedule it for sometime in August? Blake was upset by this, but agreed because he didn’t have much choice. At least he still had 4 hours he could work that evening.

I rearranged my work schedule and worked through my lunch so I could get Blake from campus to Sylvan in time. I dropped him off, then came home and began my after-work chores. About 10 minutes after I returned home, I heard the front door open. My stomach dropped. “Blake?” I asked quietly from the bedroom.

Blake was livid, and he had every right to be. All told, he had been “un-scheduled” from 8 working hours. To try to make up for it, Dan offered Blake 2 hours of work-free pay. Two hours?! Are you kidding me? That’s it?! Also it came out that Dan hadn’t “forgotten” about the reading training. Someone had “tattled” and had called corporate headquarters and now Dan had to pull a few more strings in order to allow Blake to teach reading. But anyone who knows Blake knows that he’s probably more qualified than some licensed teachers are to teach reading. Anyhow, we are now under the strong impression that this “we’ll train you on reading in August” business actually means “Sorry, son, but it ain’t gonna happen. Ever.”

The Dilemma:
You’re probably asking yourself why Blake didn’t just up and quit yesterday. You know, we’re asking ourselves the same question. But next week is the Delaware County Fair and Sylvan is sponsoring a booth that must be manned. Because Blake was one of the few who volunteered to sit at the booth, it is very possible that he’ll get some decent hours at least next week, what with the Fair and the 7 teaching hours he is scheduled for. We realize, though, that these promises are about 75% guaranteed to be broken.

In a way, we both feel like the abused spouse in an awful work relationship. With each promise, we keep telling ourselves that it’ll get better, even though we both know now that it won’t. So here’s what we’ve decided. We’re going to hold out for a few more weeks under the notion that 2 hours are better than no hours. Besides, it’s too late to find another summer job before school starts. In the meantime, Blake is going to continue his search for an assistantship for the school year. If he is able to get one, he’ll quit Sylvan all together. If he can’t get one, he’ll still quit Sylvan once the school year starts and will look for a new job. Either way, Sylvan will lose a great employee and it will be the result of their own irresponsible stupidity. I did, however, tell Blake that it was okay by me for him to give them the This Is The Last Straw Ultimatum if they cancel his hours one more time.

But I’m curious – what would you do in a situation like this? We feel stuck – used and abused and stuck. Maybe we should have quit long ago, but there was always that promise that things would improve. And Sylvan pays better than any campus job. Besides, Blake needs a job too desperately to just quit in a rage without a back-up job to go to. But we are getting tired of rearranging our lives for a 2 hours/week job, and I am beginning to count the days till school starts.

I’m realizing more and more why unions are such a big deal to some people.