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Rule-breaking Nova hit with suspension order
“We have concluded that (Nova’s way of signing up students) was extremely malicious,” said a METI [Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry] official who briefed reporters about the order. Nova “engaged in illegal acts, with the top management at its head office authorizing the irregularities. The company even compiled a manual advising staff on how…
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Nova barred from making long contracts
The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry said Wednesday it ordered Nova Corp., the nation’s largest English language school chain, to suspend for six months its recruitment of customers for new contracts of more than one year or 70 lesson hours, starting Thursday. According to sources, the ministry has concluded Nova’s practice of telling prospective customers…
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Nova handed suspension order over tuition fee practices
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on Wednesday ordered major English-language school operator Nova Corp. to suspend part of its business operations for holding back money from students who cancelled their contracts, ministry officials said. The ministry issued an order prohibiting Nova from soliciting customers or accepting applications for contracts exceeding one year or…
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Competing foreign-worker plans face off
Justice chief’s proposal to open doors, briefly, for all sectors causes stir “Putting a three-year limit on a foreign worker’s stay in Japan does not give the company doing the hiring any incentive to take the time to train them for specialized work. Of course, there is also the question of how many skilled workers…
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Nambu teams with Zentoitsu to take on Sunrise and Yanagawa-Kogyo
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…
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May 25th Mini-Koudou Demos
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…
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Reinstate the Sapporo Four!
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…
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Court invalidates sacking of Japanese-Brazilian who called boss ‘idiot’
The Nagoya District Court on Wednesday invalidated a company’s sacking of a third-generation Japanese-Brazilian who called his boss an idiot, saying the company had abused its right of dismissal.Ruling in favor of the 35-year-old worker, the court said sacking the worker for calling his boss an idiot was unacceptable. “The firing is not acceptable under…
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Overtime or the cure — which is worse?
According to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, the average full-time employee worked 2,041.2 hours in 2006, compared with 2,028 hours the previous year. Another government survey shows that one out of every four male employees in their 30s worked more than 60 hours a week in 2005. No job category breakdown was provided. In…
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Nova’s policy on cancellations illegal: top court
The Ministry of Economy Trace and Industry and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government inspected Nova’s Osaka head office and several schools in February for allegedly charging high contract cancellation fees and on suspicion that it had given the government false information about its cancellation policy. At that time, the government warned Nova it could be forbidden…