A labor union of foreign workers requested Monday that the Aichi prefectural board of education address the concerns of English-language instructors at public schools who they say are working under illegal contracts.
The [NUGW Tokyo Nambu sister union] General Union, based in the city of Osaka, said an investigation it conducted last month and communications with municipal boards of education show that foreign teaching assistants in 16 school districts in the prefecture are contracted by private language schools or other agents rather than the school boards themselves.
The union charges that by going through agencies, the school boards are “avoiding the obligation of hiring them directly that comes after a certain period of (temporary) employment has elapsed.”
“It is lowering the quality of education as the situation generates anxiety (among instructors) about their employment and does not guarantee continuity in classroom teaching,” the union said.
The union alleges the instructors’ employment terms are in violation of the Worker Dispatch Law.
The Tokai municipal board of education is “especially malicious in that (it) has refused a demand for collective bargaining,” the union said. It filed an appeal with the Aichi labor bureau to address the situation with the Tokai board.
In 2007, English-language instructors in 23 school districts in Osaka Prefecture faced a similar employment issue. After the revelation of their situation, the local labor bureau issued instructions and the municipal boards of education switched to direct hiring or legal labor contracting.
ALT
Interac and Pregnancy: Getting Fired for Being Pregnant
Last year when I was in the Osaka based General Union, we received an email from an Interac ALT who was rather upset because she had been fired for being pregnant. Martina (name changed) was set to have her contract renewed with her school where she was loved by her students and teachers. Her contract had already been promised to her verbally and her schools and students were looking forward to her return. Then, people in the Yokohama office found out something that they viewed as a major inconvenience to their business, Martina was pregnant and would be giving birth during the middle of the school year.
They told her that in light of her condition, it would be too much trouble for them to find a replacement in the middle of the school term, and had decided to go with someone else who was less…. pregnant.
New law: no dues, no visa
An article from July that concerns every foreigner working in Japan.
Are you enrolled in Shakai Hoken or did Interac tell you you weren’t eligible? Are you going to have to pay up to two years of back pay into the system next year because Interac/Maxceed did not register you into the system when you started working for them?
Let’s hope not.
Solidarity
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20090728zg.html
By JENNY UECHI
Enrollment in Japan’s health insurance program tied to visa renewal from 2010
By JENNY UECHI
In your wallet or somewhere at home, do you have a blue or pink card showing that you are enrolled in one of Japan’s national health and pension programs? If not, and if you are thinking of extending your stay here, you may want to think about a recent revision to visa requirements for foreign residents. The changes, which the Justice Ministry says were made in order to “smooth out the administrative process,” may have major consequences for foreign residents and their future in Japan.
Liberation In Iwate
In 2007, I recieved an email from an Interac employee that was interested in being directly hired by his BOE. He had tried in earnest to improve his working conditions through Interac, but they were uninterested in signing him up for Shakai Hoken, unemployment insurance, giving him a raise, etcetera. At the time I was in Osaka, and Iwate (the prefecture north of Tokyo, not the city in Osaka) is quite a long way away from the normal base of operations of Tokyo Nambu, much less Osaka’s General Union Interac Branch. I was not able to meet with him face to face, but I was able to provide him with a lot of information and advice that he was able to use to convince his BOE (Board of Education) that taking the plunge to hire him directly would be in everyone’s best interest. He has now been directly employed since spring of 2008 with no middle-man dispatch company to impede his rights as a worker under Japanese law.
This is his story, in his own words. Enjoy and be inspired. Any other ALTs in Iwate prefecture that want to liberate their BOE from their dispatch company can contact me and I will put you in contact with our friend, “The Abolitionist”.
In solidarity
(NOTE: His experiences and his claims may not match yours exactly. Contracts can have different variables in different parts of the country. They can even be different in the same part of the country, but with different BOEs. If his experience does not match yours exactly, don’t forget to take the possible variations into account.)
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From “The Abolitionist” in Iwate Prefecture:
It would be very sad for you, a great ALT, to resign to quitting your job and even leaving Japan, a country you love, because of Interac. Giving that much power to an amoral, impersonal business would indeed be a shame. That’s why I’m writing this. It’s not hopeless. A few years ago I was in this situation but my BOE cut out the middleman and gave me a direct contract. I would like to give you some tips on how to make this happen.
Stop Illegal Dispatching in Tokyo/Kanto!
Recently in the news, an NihonTerebi (Channel 4 in the Tokyo area) story focused on trials that a lot of ALTs face, focusing on the fact that not only are these creating a less than optimal working enviornment for foreign teachers but also that many of the contracts are Illegal.
The reporters that researched the story surveyed the greater Tokyo/Kanto area to see which Boards of Education (BOEs) were using dispatch contracts that are considered legal, and which BOEs were using illegal contracts. A graphic supplied during the report showed that a large swath of the Tokyo area was highlighted in red, the color used to indicate a BOE that is currently using an illegal contract.
Continue reading to see the videos:
Plan to teach English classes in English prompts worries among educators in Japan
New high school curriculum guidelines calling for English lessons to be taught in English have sparked worries among teachers in Japan, with some doubting that teachers and students will be able to handle the classes.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has explained that “teachers should first display an attitude of actively using English themselves,” in order to boost English conversation ability.
However, concerns have been raised over large disparities in both teachers’ English ability and students’ level of understanding — at some schools there are reportedly students who can’t tell the difference between the letters “b” and “d.” In addition, university entrance exams are likely to remain unchanged, raising questions from educators about how effective the move will be.
“The Education Ministry doesn’t understand the teaching scene,” one English teacher at a Chiba prefectural high school says with a forced smile. “Teaching lessons in English would be impossible.”
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20081224p2a00m0na002000c.html
Foreign teachers to be full-timers
Foreign nationals will be hired as full-time instructors at Akita Prefecture elementary schools starting next April, when English lessons become part of the official curriculum, its education board said.
Native English speakers or those who have studied in English-speaking countries for a certain period can apply regardless of nationality or whether they hold a teacher’s license. All applicants must have a good command of Japanese, officials said.
The move is a first across Japan, the officials said. Assistant language teachers have so far been hired only on a part-time basis.
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200805140084.html
Interac in the News – Punishment for Being Sick
An article from January, 2008 about the fact that Interac ALTs do not get all of what they are entitled to by law.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20080105f1.html
THIS FOREIGN LAND
Assistant language teachers in trying timesBy KANAKO TAKAHARA
Staff writer
Last of four partsIn November, Samantha Bouton, an assistant language teacher working at a public elementary school in the rural town of Shibayama, Chiba Prefecture, had a fever of 38.5 degrees and was diagnosed as suffering bronchitis.
Because of her illness, Bouton, a 25-year-old U.S. native from Oregon who has been teaching in Japan’s public schools since 2004, had to take leave for two weeks.
But her employer, Interac, a temp staff dispatch agency and leading provider of ALTs in Japan, told her she had already used up her seven days of annual paid leave — less than the 12 days she is entitled to under labor law — to cover the days she was sick.
Assistant language teachers in trying times
Meanwhile, local boards of education have started to realize they cannot get competent, experienced teachers either by subcontracting to private firms or through the JET program because many of them come to Japan just out of college without any background in education.
Taito Ward in Tokyo said it plans to stop outsourcing ALTs to private companies. It is considering advertising for candidates on its Web site and asking them to give a presentation on the kind of lessons they plan to offer as part of its screening process.
The city of Musashino on the outskirts of Tokyo plans to seek applicants among native English speakers who live in the area instead of subcontracting from private companies.