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Foreign workers rally in Shibuya for equal rights
JOB SECURITY, SOCIAL INSURANCE DEMANDED Foreign workers staged a rally in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, on Sunday as part of their annual spring labor offensive, calling for proper and equal treatment on par with Japanese working conditions. Hundreds of people from various countries gathered in Miyashita Park for the afternoon “March in March” event. “Employers must…
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Ex-NOVA teachers file complaint about getting laid off by new owners
About 20 foreign language teachers formerly employed by NOVA Corp. filed a complaint with a labor standards inspection office here on Friday, claiming that they were illegally fired by the companies that took over the failed language school chain. “Unfair dismissal!” chanted the former NOVA teachers as they joined a prep rally held by [Tokyo…
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Police targeting ex-Nova president
Police are investigating the former president of the now-bankrupt language school chain Nova Corp. for possible breach of trust over a project that brought profits to an affiliate he controlled, sources said. Nozomu Sahashi, 56, is suspected of having paid exorbitant prices for a server used in video-phone hookups for language lessons, sources said. Police…
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Paper scandal points to shortcomings of Japan Inc
Corporate governance is a relatively new concept in Japan, the world’s second-largest economy. It ranks 38th out of 49 nations, lagging behind South Africa, Venezuela and Peru, according to GovernanceMetrics International, a corporate governance ratings agency. The scandals come on top of what analysts see as insular management styles in Japan and an insufficient number…
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Attention G-communication teachers and staff
G-Education and its parent company G-communication repeated NOVA’s pattern of broken promises when they suddenly announced the dismissals of 800 former NOVA teachers and staff who had been promised work at G-comm in January. The declaration, coming just a week after the company president publicly repeated assurances of re-employment, leaves many facing once again the…
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Foreign teachers still waiting for jobs
AUSTRALIANS are among hundreds of foreign teachers who had been hoping for fresh jobs to start the new year but remain unemployed after a firm taking over part of the collapsed Nova language school chain stopped hiring. Nova, whose schools were once ubiquitous across Japanese cities, filed for bankruptcy protection in October, leaving thousands of…
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Firm reneges on promised jobs for Nova teachers
National Union of General Workers Tokyo Nambu, a Tokyo-based labor union [and predecessor of Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union] whose ranks include many ex-Nova teachers, also decried G.education’s sudden announcement. “It was all very sudden. It was a big shock to people,” said Catherine Campbell, who is currently in charge of the Nova case at…
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The G.rinch That Stole Christmas
G.communications has gone back on its promise to hire all former NOVA teachers who apply, announcing on Christmas Eve that 600 applicants would not be rehired. Reasons given for the decision include difficulties in reopening schools, and the company’s plans to relocate the Ochanomaryugaku (interactive TV lessons) operation overseas in order to cut costs. This…
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Up to ex-NOVA 800 teachers left out in cold by new owners
Up to 800 foreign language teachers formerly employed by NOVA Corp. will not be hired by the failed English conversation school chain’s new owners. Officials at Nagoya-based G.communication Group said they are looking into finding employment for around 200 ex-NOVA teachers with affiliate companies, leaving the remaining 600 or so unemployed. G.communication Group bought out…
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‘Eikaiwa’ firms face Nova fallout
Too big, too fast, and with too little quality ? that’s the consensus view of many industry analysts on former language-school market leader Nova Corp., whose collapse left over 420,000 students and 4,000 non-Japanese instructors without an “eikaiwa” home. The Nova affair has already hurt many people: Hundreds of instructors have had to leave Japan…