Action

Nova Union of Staff and Teachers Press Conference

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Yesterday was, without a doubt, a media triumph for Nambu, and our struggle for job security for members.

We’ve been trying for so long for this kind of media exposure, and the current Nova news frenzy gave us our opportuniy to make the public aware not only of the working conditions in Nova, but also in the whole of the eikaiwa industry, and in the job market in Japan.

At the news conference yesterday at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, TV crews from 8 different broadcasters attended, along with numerous journalists. We spoke about the current Nova dispute and about the common problems of foreign workers in Japan.

To Nova, in its current crises, we publically announced the offer of an olive branch, a special peace proposal, to help with the situation: a cessation for now of strike action, in exchange for guaranteed renewal of contracts when requested by teachers.

Following the press conference, a Nambu Nova branch delegation, with the President, the Vice-president, General Secretary, and the Kubikiri-usagi Nova Bunny, tailed by a Fuji TV crew, went to Nova’s Tokyo HQ in Shinjuku. The intention was to deliver the union’s special peace proposal for the dispute to tpge company’s Tokyo head office.

The TV crew were blocked at the door! Nova management refused to come out and talk. No surprises, huh?

However, the company’s behaviour was worse than that: after the union delegation agreed to meet Nova management without the media present, the manager in charge, Robert Vaughan hid and told his staff to say he’d gone home, even though three members of the delegation had seen him in the corridor.

Robert, don’t be afraid. We’re not carrying guns.

The delegation, having drunk tea, but insulted by Vaughan’s declining to come to meet them to accept their proposal, had no alternative than to go tell the waiting TV crew what had happened.

Troubled Nova staff slams work conditions

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Nova Corp. teachers and other employees in Tokyo criticized the company Tuesday, saying the troubled chain of foreign-language schools must improve its business not just so it becomes more honest with customers but also for the sake of its workers.

At a news conference, Nova union members also demanded that the firm provide better working conditions for the Osaka-based chain’s roughly 5,000 teachers at its branches nationwide. Although teaching English is Nova’s mainstay, it also offers lessons in other foreign languages.

The rank and file said Nova must improve its thorny relations with its union if the chain hopes to survive the current crisis, in which it was slapped with a six-month ban on offering new long-term student contracts.

“A couple of months ago, (Nova President Nozomu) Sahashi issued a statement asking all the teachers to be friendly with their students and greet them with big smiles,” said Thomas Reichl, the union president, who has been teaching German for 13 years. “We say to Mr. Sahashi, please lead by example and give us something to smile about.”

The union has been fighting Nova for three years to secure a stable work environment in which its teachers can have indefinite or long-term employment agreements instead of annual renewals, and to allow teachers to qualify for social security insurance.

According to the union, negotiations with Nova began in 2004, but when the talks failed to produce results it began organizing strikes and protests the following year. In 2006, the union took its case to the Tokyo Labor Relations Board.

As the largest language school chain in Japan, Nova’s practices effectively set the industry standard, the union said, adding that improved conditions would benefit the entire sector.

Last week, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry imposed a six-month ban on new customer contracts with more than a one-year duration, or more than 70 hours of lessons, because the company engaged in deceptive business practices that affected many of its students.

The violations included distributing pamphlets claiming students, after they sign their lesson contract, can schedule classes at any time or branch, when in fact there was a shortage of teachers at times of peak demand.

Branches were also allegedly reneging on contract cooling-off period reimbursements.

Reichl said the teacher shortage stems from high turnover. Nova teachers who are recruited overseas only stay around eight months because they become disillusioned with their jobs, he said, adding this results in poor teaching standards.

Briton Robert Tench, an English teacher and union treasurer, described the complaints he has received from students.

“I walked in and said ‘Long time no see,’ and then the student said she was not able to reserve any class,” he said.

Tench said the firm may be deliberately keeping teacher numbers low to cut payroll corners.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070620a3.html

Nambu teams with Zentoitsu to take on Sunrise and Yanagawa-Kogyo

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A delegation of six Nambu members joined approximately 50 Zentoitsu union members at a series of demos in eastern Tokyo this morning.

First stop was Sunrise, a small company that manufactures helmets, using trainees from China as a source of labour. The trainee/internship system has been in the news a lot
recently, due to abuses by companies who, instead of training the interns, force them to work long hours for less than minimum wage, with none of the benefits guaranteed to employees under Labour Standards Law.  In this case, five Chinese women who made a claim for unpaid wages were forcibly taken to Narita and put on a plane to China. Those who resisted were beaten. Today, union activists expressed their outrage to the owner of Sunrise, who found himself surrounded by angry protestors on the doorstep of his office, in full view of all the neighbours. The demonstration was very loud and tense, but very well-organized. The police at the nearby koban observed from a safe distance, clearly not wishing to get involved in that.
 
From there, we moved by hired bus (more excellent organization) to Adachi-ku, where we demonstrated in front of Yanagawa-Kogyo, a company which, among other things,
rents construction cranes, one of which was parked in the front lot. Protestors made their way around the construction material to the verandah of the home office, and chanted slogans through the open door, where the owner stood watching. This company dismissed a union member who had insisted on taking his legally-owed number of paid vacation days to deal with back pain brought on by the working conditions.

Coming out to these demos is a great way to build solidarity with our sister union Zentoitsu, and to learn about the conditions faced by other workers in Japan. Watch this space for information about future action.

May 25th Mini-Koudou Demos

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Rain or shine, Nambu members turn out when called, and more than 20 people participated throughout the day in the Mini-Koudou demos last Friday, May 25.

Action began with a multi-union demo in Kasumigaseki. Hundreds of unionists surrounded the Ministry buildings in support of dismissed JR workers who have been fighting for decades. Listening to the speakers, some of whom were on a hunger strike, suddenly the rain didn’t seem worth compaining about.

A highlight of the day was a visit to the offices of Universal Language Institute (ULI) where we declared a new branch. Management were more than a little surprised to find their office suddenly filled with a dozen union members, and demanded that we leave. Nambu President Hiraga refused, and insisted that ULI recognize the union and commit to negotiations with the new branch. After some debate, ULI management realized that it made more sense to recognize the union than to have a dozen activists occupying its offices and chatting about working conditions with other ULI staff, who in fact seemed to enjoy the diversion.

Later in the day, we returned again to the infamous [three lettered college in Shinjuku], where management has been trying to crush the union for two years now. Managers stood by scowling as students took our leaflets to read during their break. As for the non-union teachers who walked by the picket line, one of our members said it best by quoting Edmund Burke: “Evil triumphs when good men do nothing.”

Union-busting problems at a Berlitz franchise in Sapporo were brought home to Berlitz HQ in Aoyama, as leafletters informed passers-by about unfair labour practices going on under the Berlitz name. Demonstrations were also held in front of ELS, the Berlitz-affiliated company in Shinjuku that runs the Sapporo franchise. This demo was well-timed, just as ELS students and teachers were leaving the building, and all were curious to hear about what was happening up north.

By coordinating action, and working together to resolve disputes at other workplaces as well as our own, wemultiply our strength and solidarity. Watch for more Mini-Koudou in the future!

Reinstate the Sapporo Four!

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The fight against union busting at the Berlitz-ELS Sapporo Language Centre continues, with two demonstrations held recently in Sapporo and Tokyo.

In Sapporo, union members leafletted in front of the Berlitz-ELS LC on March 12. The union continues to receive strong support, with a new member joining the original Four, and students as well as members of the local Sapporo Rentai union helping to hand out flyers. The public is obviously reading the flyers, as we have received phone calls to the office in Tokyo from students concerned about the situation.

In Tokyo, union members gathered in front of the ELS school in Shinjuku, and distributed about 300 leaflets. Even without a loudspeaker, the colourful placards and energetic chanting of the protestors convinced the passers-by that something was definitely amiss with the company on the 7th floor. More than half the participants were from Berlitz and Simul, who, along with ELS, are Benesse group companies.                                

Background:

Union members at the Berlitz-ELS Sapporo LC are fighting unfair dismissals and union-busting at ELS Japan. ELS denies that the dismissals targeted union members, but cannot explain why out of 17 teachers, only the four union members were fired, less than two months after their first collective bargaining to boot. Unsubstantiated claims of “poor performance” don’t stand up against years of experience, good evaluations, and petitions from students to bring these teachers back to work. 

The real reason may lie in changes to contracts introduced unilaterally this April, as teachers said good-bye to benefits such as paid national holidays and prep time for kids’s lessons.

This unfair labour practice is going on literally under the names of Berlitz and Benesse, which adorn the entrance to the school in Sapporo. ELS took over the Sapporo LC in 2006, but retained the Berlitz operation in a “double-branding” agreement with Berlitz Japan.

Strike and Nationwide Protest against Union-Busting at ELS-Berlitz in Sapporo

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Demonstrators gathered in front of ELS-Berlitz schools in Sapporo, Fukuoka, and Tokyo last Saturday to protest dismissals of four union members at the Sapporo ELS-Berlitz school.

Friends and students joined union members to hand out over 600 leaflets during a strike at the Sapporo school, while in Tokyo, Berlitz teachers and other union members called for reinstatement of the Sapporo Four, and in Fukuoka, the Fukuoka General Union delivered a letter of protest during a demonstration at the ELS-Berlitz school there.

ELS bought the Berlitz school in Sapporo last April, and many teachers continued working for the new owner, teaching exactly the same Berlitz lessons, albeit under contract to a new employer. Teachers who had been unionized at Berlitz soon formed a new branch to protect their working conditions at ELS, and started negotiating with the company. ELS responded by firing one member in February, and announcing the dismissal of the other three as of March 31. Out of 17 teachers, only the union members were fired – ELS calls this “coincidence”. The union calls it unfair labour practice and a violation of Trade Union Law.

The company gives “poor performance” as the reason for dismissal, yet the teachers are all experienced instructors, ranging in seniority from 6 years to 27 years, and have held positions of responsibility such as Instructional Supervisor and Assistant Instructional Supervisor at the school. One of the dismissed members is still being asked to do assessments and demo lessons for prospective customers, hardly a job one would assign to a poor teacher.

Strikes and demonstrations will continue until the company retracts these unfair dismissals.

Foreigners march for worker rights

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Workers from all parts of the globe battled wind and rain Sunday to give speeches, performances and then trudge through the streets of Shibuya, Tokyo, calling for job security and equality for all.

“This march is about raising people’s awareness about the job situation in Japan, especially for foreigners,” said an American woman dressed as the pink rabbit mascot for Nova, the nation’s biggest chain of English-language schools. “It keeps getting worse and worse, with job contracts and other common problems.

“We want contracts that are more beneficial for employees, not just for companies,” she said, asking to keep her name confidential.

About 300 mainly foreign supporters attended the “March In March,” which was organized by the National Union of General Workers Nambu Foreign Workers Caucus, Kanagawa City Union, Zentoitsu Workers’ Union and Tokyo Occupational Safety and Wealth Center.

“Three main areas are involved in our work,” said Peruvian Augusto Tamanaha, from Kanagawa City Union. “The first is dismissal. It’s too easy for foreigners to get fired for no or poor reasons. Second is salary issues. And third relates to accidents.

“For example, in an accident in the workplace, why do Japanese have one kind of treatment and migrant workers have another?” he asked. “We are fighting to (make employers) obey the law — the Labor (Standard) Law — as migrant people.”

“The most important thing is job security,” said Briton Bob Tench, general secretary of the National Union of General Workers [Tokyo Nambu] Nambu Foreign Workers Caucus. “The vast majority of language teachers are on fixed contracts, which in no way gives job security, because when the year ends there’s the threat that your contract may not be renewed.”

Social insurance and pensions are also equally serious issues, he said. “A lot of foreign workers are not enrolled in ‘shakai hosho’ (social security), which is against the law. It puts people at a great risk of hardship if they suffer from an illness or an accident.”

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070313a4.html

Nambu neunzehn, Nova null

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Twenty union members gathered in front of NOVA Ikebukuro school on Sunday to show support for striking teachers at the company. Strikers included a majority of the German department in Ikebukuro, effectively shutting down lessons for the afternoon.

NOVA’s ekimae location was a perfect spot to get our message out to the public, and hundreds of passers-by took leaflets, or stopped to read the signs held by picketers.

The union is demanding job security, and the reinstatement of members who were “non-renewed” after as many as 13 years with the company.

Kanagawa PFT Petition

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A petition addressed to the Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly, the Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture, and the Kanagawa Board of Education is being circulated by a group of concerned citizens in support of the teachers dismissed by the Kanagawa Board of Education last April, and calls for the return to direct-hiring in the schools. A copy of the petition can be downloaded from the kanagawapft.org website. To add your name, please download the petition, print it out, and, after signing it, return to the address indicated in the petition info section of the website.

http://kanagawapft.org/petitionexplanation.pdf

Labour Relations Board Hearing for dismissed ALTs in Kanagawa

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In February of 2006, the Kanagawa Board of Education informed all of its 89 Assistant Language Teachers that their contracts would not be renewed, and that the Board would instead be signing a contract with Interac to fill their jobs. Some teachers were offered the chance to keep their jobs, albeit with a new employer and a 15% cut in wages. Some took it, others decided to fight, and the case is now being heard at the Kanagawa Labour Relations Board.

Outsourcing by Boards of Education is an increasing problem throughout Japan, and is just one of the negative trends in the language industry. The teachers, members of NUGW Kanagawa, ask for your support.

If you are free at 5:30 on Wednesday, August 30th, please attend the meeting of the Labour Relations Board, at the Kanagawa Labor Office. The building is a 10-minute walk from Kannai station, through the Yokohama stadium grounds and past the Board of education building, turn right in front of the main post office and left at the next corner. It’s the second building  on the left, next to an office supplies shop.

Map: http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/osirase/tihosomu/tiroi/zu.htm

The hearing usually lasts about 25  minutes or so. Anyone wishing to attend can contact Bill at: stakeschamp AT yahoo DOT com

For more information, see this website: www.kanagawapft.org