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Where did all the babies go?
Last Wednesday, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced that Japan’s total fertility rate (TFR) ? the average number of babies born to women during their reproductive years ? rose slightly to 1.34 for 2007, even though about 3,000 fewer children were born last year than in 2006. Two years ago the TFR was…
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Nova ‘paid bills with employee welfare fund’
About 300 million yen contributed by employees of the bankrupt language school chain Nova Corp. to a staff welfare fund was transferred to a company bank account in July to cover operating costs and done without the approval of employees, the police have said. According to the police, former Nova president Nozomu Sahashi ordered the…
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Goodwill officials, client arrested
Tokyo police arrested three officials of temp agency Goodwill Inc. on Tuesday over allegations they helped a client company “double dispatch” temp staff to work at potentially dangerous jobs at piers. The three included Taisuke Uemura, 37, a former manager in charge of the northern Kanto region and currently the business strategy section chief, and…
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Good news from grass roots
First up, the labor unions (i.e. the ones that let non-Japanese join, even help run). Their annual marches in March, for example, have made it clear to the media (and employers like Nova) that non-Japanese (NJ) workers are living in and working for Japan and that they are ready to stand up for themselves, in…
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Japanese Are Loath To Rebuild Workforce Through Immigration
Politicians Avoid Issue They See as Toxic When threatened by soaring oil prices in the 1970s, Japan’s response was swift, smart and successful. It transformed itself into the most efficient user of energy in the developed world, thanks to government leadership, engineering skill and a public that embraced conservation. Now Japan faces a much more…
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Arbitrary rulings equal bad PR
In principle, people of moral fiber and legal solvency qualify after 10 years’ consecutive stay – half that if you are deemed to have “contributed to Japan.” For those with Japanese spouses or descendants (“Nikkei” Brazilians, for example), three to five consecutive years are traditionally sufficient. That’s pretty long. The world’s most famous PR, the U.S.…
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McDonald’s to pay managers overtime
McDonald’s Holdings Co. (Japan) said Tuesday it will introduce a system Aug. 1 to provide overtime pay to some 2,000 outlet managers and area market developers across the country who have not been getting paid for extra work hours. The move comes after the Tokyo District Court ruled in January that the fast-food chain should…
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Berlitz Striking Teachers Make History
The Berlitz General Union Tokyo (Begunto, a local of Nambu) maintained and expanded its 2007 shunto strike during this year’s shunto, focusing on two demands: a 4.6% across-the-boards base pay hike and a one month bonus. Nearly half of all 46 Berlitz schools in the Kanto plain have been hit by walkouts since the dispute…
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Little Garden Smashes Shamelessness Record for Union Discrimination
NUGW Tokyo Nambu on May 15 filed a petition against preschool Little Garden for redress from unfair labor practices — sued the firm for union busting — at the Tokyo Labor Commission. Last summer, teachers and admin staff tried to build a union but management came down hard, making clear that anyone who joined would…
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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…