Interac Yokohama Branch Manager Attacks Union Shop Steward

28 comments

1. It seems amazing that Interac could be so inept.

   If possible, could you share the details of the lawsuit.

   >For their part, Interac’s management have continued to defend their actions, and compared David’s conversation with his colleague to acts of physical violence and racial discrimination.

   I am morbidly curious how they twisted this bullshit out. Oh dear.

2. And this is supposed to be one of the better ALT companies

3. Thank god I don’t teach in Japan anymore. It was a great experience, but it’s tough to make it a career.

4. > David is surprised. By law, his manager is not allowed to ask this, and David is not allowed to answer.

   By what law? TBH I wouldn’t trust the guidance of eikaiwa teachers unions as they sound like a bunch of amateurs.

   > Union members have the right to discuss their working conditions, the union, and union actions with their colleagues, without fear of punishment or retaliation. This right is protected by the Japanese Constitution.

   In which specific part of the constitution are the ‘rights’ of unions referred to?

   > Union members in Japan have many legally protected rights. We will use them to negotiate for fair pay and benefits, proper workplace protections, and better working conditions—and we will protect them when bad management tries to stop us.

   Good luck.

5. I missed the part where he ‘attacked’

6. I’m not a member of Tozen but of the other union.

   Becuase I mostly work for myself now, I don’t need to be a member but I will still support the group who are fighting for changes .

   These things are very uncomfortable but this is how things change.

   I was surprised for example by the protection my SO enjoys as a UPS driver in the US. Becuase of the union!!!

   The thing is everyone would want the same level of protection and benefits but not everyone wants to fight for it because not everyone can afford to. I fought Shane and JES and now they have blacklisted me (technically illegal but you cannot force them to renew the contract).

7. I’m sure David will have plenty of time to strike in a couple of months.

8. Came for physical altercation

   Left disappoint.

   But seriously though Interac was in the wrong here.

9. I have some applications submitted with Interac ATM.
   Looks like I’ll be forgetting all about them.

   Thanks for calling out their BS and keeping people informed so we can make good decisions about shitty companies!

10. Oh hey, I used to work for them! Quit there for my current position, not that it’s much better…

11. a) I don’t see where anyone was “attacked”. IMO, making unsubstantiated claims doesn’t help your cause.

    b) I’m somewhat skeptical that “asking certain questions” is illegal… or requesting for them to do their job is illegal. Could you please cite the laws/regulations disallowing such requests so we can look it over?

    I’m inclined to understand that it is always ok to ask any question; it’s up to the other party if they wish to answer or not, and they can’t be compelled to answer and/or punished if they choose not to. Is this understanding incorrect?

    c) Finally, while I somewhat understand your “fight”, with Interact being one of the bigger dispatch companies, it is perhaps a pretty good target to try to initiate change in the industry; I can’t help but feel that they are the wrong tree to be barking up at.

    I don’t know about anyone else, but when I take a step back and try to look at the bigger picture, the real evil in this entire mix is the BOEs. All the dispatch companies are simply fighting over, and trying to maximize what they can get from the BOEs.

    Dispatch companies are only as black and terrible as the BOEs allow (want?) them to be.

    BOE signs a contract with a dispatch company for $X for Y ALTs working Z hours…. 10% of $X goes into consumption taxes. The conditions of the contract are written by the BOEs. The BOEs can easily stipulate the salary and hours for an ALT, and make an arrangement to pay ALTs directly to skirt around the 10% consumption tax; then get the dispatch companies fight over their cut for their services. The BOEs are the ones who have the power to make positive changes for an ALT; but they aren’t. If any dispatch company (tries to) do right for an ALT, with a decent wage, or whatnot – they’ll just go out of business because they’ll lose every contract to another company that won’t.
    It’s a zero-sum game, with the BOEs calling the shots, and the ALTs left holding the bag.

    If one dispatch company “lost” the contract, it’s only because another company “won” it with a lower bid… but it’s not like that winning company has a supply of ALTs who are ready to deploy at the drop of a hat – they are just going to scramble and hire whoever is looking for a job. Losing company doesn’t extend a new contract, winning company hires, at their new (lower) rate of pay… from the same pool of ALTs.

    Rinse, and repeat. It’s a race to the bottom, at the bidding of the BOEs. The ALTs are expendable, and they’ll keep being paid bottom dollar – up until you’ve reached the lowest that anyone will accept – and when you get to that point, anyone they hire would be scrapped from the bottom of the barrel – because anyone else would be working somewhere else instead.

    IMO, the cause of this race to the bottom is entirely on the BOEs… Unions should be getting this message to the Japanese people, and raising awareness for them to demand change that way. Sure, the dispatch companies are bad; but they aren’t the cause of how things are, and going after them hoping to change things for the better just seems like the wrong tree to me.

    If you really want ALTs to receive a higher salary, it needs to start from the BOEs. Trying to pressure any particular dispatch company just isn’t going to work – because they’ll simply be outbid by another dispatch company instead. If you want any change, it needs to come from the BOE. As long as the BOEs stipulate it as a requirement of the contract, all dispatch companies would be required to comply.

12. This whole industry is a clusterf**k and a joke

13. The word “attack” implies a physical or verbal attack that is not described in either the Japanese or English text you posted.

    You could describe what the branch manager and the CIM did as alleged interference with David’s right to engage in actions protected under the labor and trade union laws.

    Please keep in mind this is r/teachinginjapan and educators are particular about the way language is used.

    On another note, are union members prohibited or simply not required to divulge information to employers regarding job action? Refer to this in your OP:

    > David is surprised. By law, his manager is not allowed to ask this, and David is not allowed to answer.

    I’m not saying you are wrong, just for clarification so that others reading this have a clear picture of what information union members must withhold, or are simply not required to answer when an employer asks. A possibly analogous situation is when an employer asks why an employee wants to take paid leave. The employee is not obligated to give an answer and can simply state “personal reasons”.

    On another note, what u/slowmail talks about in detail is the crux of the matter. As long as MEXT, a branch of the government, allows BoEs to outsource and dispatch companies outbid each other, we will continue to see hacking away at conditions and wages.

14. Interac being asshats, weird, didn’t see that coming /s

15. Intentionally deceptive headline IMO.

16. I used to work for Interac in Yokohama. Big yikes.

17. Clickbait headline.

18. can’t have a shop steward if the company doesn’t recognize the union.

    ​

    These “unions” are frauds that mislead people into thinking they have power. They don’t. What they are doing is literally the same as declaring yourself CEO the day you get hired.

19. never worked for interac so I had no idea about the salary.

    Is it seriously THAT low??? it said 2,4 to 3 per year… do you guys get any bonuses?

    ​

    EDIT

    Got mad respect for the people going on strike. Must be such an uphill battle considering that this is Japan and the fact that its easy (I assume) for interaction to find new people from overseas anyways.

20. Down with Interac!

21. Good luck with your strike!

22. Color me not surprised that Interac management would do this. I hope the lawsuit hits them hard, though that’s hoping for far too much.

23. OP, please keep us all informed with continued updates and post, please. The better informed people are, the better we’ll all be.

24. Lol, more Tozen link farming.

    Im just going to keep reporting this junk as spam

25. All of you could be in such better positions in life if you spent as much energy building skills and qualifications as you do fighting for a bottom-of-the-barrel job.

26. ALTs who are serious about staying in Japan should put all this time and energy into learning Japanese and a skill so they can stop being an ALT.

27. [deleted]

28. There is a lot of chat about this post. It seems some of you are missing the point .

    1) Interac doesn’t give a hoot about the labor laws in Japan.

    2) The co. is so embedded in the system they think that they can abuse and exploit teachers – they think there is an endless supply of young gullible applicants. true ??

    3) Union Action is the only way to check this despicable and illegal co.

    We PFTs have joined the General union in Kanazawa and fought for our direct hire jobs

    since 2007 – We have given the outsourcing system a black eye.

    Get in a union and take action or you will be at the mercy of this cut-throat company.

    jus sayin …..jon manjiro