Jerry,
your story - better, the school were you work and all the system -
is truly awful.
But that does not mean that you must begin soon to have overwork
also on the list...
riccardo
At 5:57 -0700 16-09-1997, Gerald Levy wrote:
>Riccardo wrote in [OPE-L:5472]:
>
>> But I thought that you, Jerry, should be on
>> holidays for at least a couple of months!
>
>The "holidays" are over for Jerry.
>
>I met my regular doctor last week. He scheduled me for another meeting
>with a cardiologist this week and (in brief) told me to relax and NOT go
>back to work until I get the OK from the (HIP) doctors. He said that,
>normally, they advise 4-6 weeks absence from work following a heart
>attack.
>
>Well ... (isn't capitalism beautiful?) ... the school where I receive my
>health benefits from told me last week that if I didn't report back to
>work *last Friday* (9 days after being released from intensive care; a
>little over 2 weeks after the attack) ... then I would lose my health
>benefits!
>
>They gave me little "choice", particularly since I was feeling well enough
>to teach. Under current circumstances, I am in no position not to have
>health insurance.
>
>So ... last Friday I went back to work at that school. (I decided not to
>teach this semester at another school and at Pratt they put me on a
>3-week paid medical leave ... so my schedule is lighter).
>
>"How can such a thing happen?", you ask. I belong to a category of
>academic workers called adjunct or part-time faculty. These faculty not
>only receive lower wages and little to no job security, but also little to
>no benefits. Indeed, many part-time faculty in the US don't have health
>insurance at all (and virtually none have pension plans). In my case, my
>ability to maintain health benefits is (even though I taught at that
>school for 10 years) dependent on my ability to teach at least 2
>classes/semester and not miss more that a set number of days being sick.
>
>So ... (Catch 22) ... if you are sick enough that you exceed the maximum
>allowable absences, then you lose your health benefits!
>
>In solidarity, Jerry