Didn't say it was unfair, Warren. I said it was unequal.

I guess we're just not going to see this in the same light. Sometimes it turns out that way, but no harm done.
You are offered 10 months. You work for 10 months. You get paid for 10 months. How is this a cheat? Who's being short-changed?
We're not going to get the same benefits as the homeys, just as short-term foreign workers often don't get the same benefits as locals in Western countries. We're not going to get the same benefits as long-term career workers, just as part-time and adjunct instructors in Western universities don't get the same benefits as tenured professors. This isn't unreasonable.

Would you feel better if you got a 12-month contract, and you got whizz-bang benefits like vouchers for cooking oil, but drew the same salary as a Chinese teacher? On such a basis, wouldn't it be unfair, maybe even a scam, to pay you more?

And yes, there are indeed some universities offering 12-month contracts. I never said there weren't. I only submit that these are the exceptions, not the rule, and such a thing is at the schools' discretion, not ours. 10-month contracts have been around for years now, and are not just something that's been cooked up to cheat us.

The contracts in question clearly delineate a 10-month period. If they promised 12 months and then only paid for 10, THAT would be a scam. Offering 10 months up front...is just a contract. We are free to take it or leave it.

It's the employers' prerogative to be more generous with their local permanent workers if they want to, as long as we get paid for what we're offered and then work.
And just because your previous employer gave you a 12-month contract doesn't mean other employers are scammers if they don't.