Hi there,
**I’m Dennis from the General Union**. We’ve been representing teachers in Japan for the last 30 years and thought you’d like to know about our new campaign “**A New Deal for ALTs**”. In order to help us reach our campaign goals, we invite all ALTs/JETs whether you are directly hired or dispatched, who work at a board of education, to take our **National Working Conditions Survey.**
Lack of oversight and standardization has turned the ALT field into an unorganized **race to bottom** as salaries remain stagnant and positions increasingly unstable. **We’re looking to get employers to give stable jobs** with opportunities for growth, jobs that have **clear goals** and expectations. At the very least, **jobs that follow current labor laws**. [If you’d like to know more, check our website, link in the comments](alt.generalunion.org/nda).
As you may know, Private companies compete to win ALT contracts, driving down salaries and standards. **ALTs are left with low pay and often, no insurance**. Changes in labor law have disadvantaged directly hired ALTs forcing them into unstable yearly contracts that must be re-interviewed for each year.
If you’d like to help us **take the survey** so we have a better understanding of conditions on the ground around the country. Also consider joining the union, the more of us there are, the less likely they are to push you around. Remember, **you deserve** better conditions, the Japanese taxpayer **deserves better** value and most importantly your **students deserve a teacher who can focus on them**.
Thanks for reading!
15 comments
[Website Link](https://alt.generalunion.org/nda)
[Survey Link](http://alt.generalunion.org/survey)
You might want to check your formatting. Best of luck with the survey—it’s an important project
Thanks for posting
on this forum, there will be a
lot of people interested for sure.
I think I’m a union member. I was but haven’t had confirmation of payment this year.
Besides that, I’m interested in the direct hire situation. I work at my local elementary school as a ‘guest teacher’. I teach G3&4 only a few times a month. No problems at all but should I be getting transport and paid vacations? My contact is with the BOE but there’s no mention of anything other than my hourly rate.
Appreciate the survey but would’ve liked to see more options on the items I’m worried about. While I’m not too worried about unpaid work or things like that I’m more worried about lack of raises, high or strange expectations (speak English with the other teachers so they can learn too?),and a lack of explanations about side jobs, paternity leave, etc
The largest factor creating power disparity between employers and employees in the ALT field isn’t labor laws, poor oversight, or predatory companies, though those are all very significant and serious issues. The biggest factor in the power imbalances that allow all these issues to persist is the fact that the entire industry is entry level, and requires nearly zero qualifications. The power employees have to hold employers to their word is their ability to walk out and/or take legal action, when there’s a fresh “native speaker” college grad waiting in line behind you to sign the same predatory revolving door contract you signed 1 year prior, employers have no incentive to change.
I can’t say what the best solution is to the problems you’re facing are, but as long as any random 22 year old from “The West” can jump in to nearly any ALT position in the nation I don’t see companies feeling much pressure to give higher wages or to respect the job.
Hello Dennis,
Although the General Union has indeed been active for 30 years, it has **not always been a healthy or productive organization for workers’ rights**.
Before participating in General Union activities, I would like to be assured that **the following no longer have any leadership roles in it:** (edited for privacy of previously named shitheels)
Here is my general (pun intended) complaint: https://www.reddit.com/r/teachinginjapan/comments/xlturd/general_union_national_survey_of_alt_working/ipoza8c/
Oh I’d love a forum to air my laundry list of grievances. I hate this damn job.
Insurance is mandatory now. All dispatch contracted alts must go shakai hokken by October.
Hi Dennis! I have a suggestion that would solve all your complaints about poor treatment, low expectations, and little pay.
End the ALT system entirely.
This is what you get when you have a system that is explicitly built on only the bare minimum requirements that allows any uppity 22 year old weeb or coop-flyer to get into a ‘teaching position’ that, in reality, is an assistant position at best, and underpaid busywork at worst.
If you must have a system for employing foreign teachers to teach English in Japan, at least, ***at least***, ask for some form of teachers license. Having it be an English teaching license would be ideal. Because then you could actually make the claim that the person is a qualified teacher without that claim being an undeniable and outright *lie*.
In our own countries, be that the states, or the UK, or Europe, or basically anywhere, we expect our teachers to be qualified. Why is it that we then expect Japan to just accept unqualified people as ‘assistant’ teachers, and not only let them be in a facsimile position of an educator, but now expect those people to be given *careers*.
A lot of people seem to think this argument is unfair, but what I find sincerely unfair is that being born a foreigner is considered by some people to be an acceptable substitute for the teaching license in Japan which, typically, requires *4 years* to get (and that’s just 一種, 専修 takes longer). *That* is unfair.
Hi Dennis, how many cases per year does General Union successfully win or settle for its members and what’s the average amount of the settlement?
Hey GU, quick question.
I shared this survey to Facebook and a teacher I know who works as an ALT tried to take it, but the first question seems to indicate this survey is only for ALTs at public schools – is that right? He works at a private school, and noted that ALT dispatch is starting to take over in those contexts, too, as he lost his job in the 2018 purge after the 2013 law came into effect, as the school ended the contracts of (read: fired) all the existing ALTs and replaced them with dispatch ALTs.
Can you clarify? Because it would be rather disappointing to hear that the GU isn’t interested in the experiences of private-school ALTs.
>ALTs are left with low pay
ALTs make more than double of what direct hires make here…
Seriously so important – working as an ALT was both amazing but the economic insecurity was brutal. Couldn’t do it for more than a year.
I’m very worried about the frozen salaries at 250,000. At the bare minimum it should be 350,000 given health insurance, and nenkin costs.
The lack of respect from the JT, calling the ALT an assistant, rather a Native English Teacher when the children called them sensei. NET should be the term applied.
The egregious amount of politics in the New Horizon JHS kyokashous.
The lack of full transportation reimbursement for teachers traveling 2-3 hours to reach their schools.
The harassment from teachers, expecting us to teach their work friends, or husband’s friend English during our downtime.
The late pay from companies that have been operating for a while, but still paying late, it makes you wonder what connections they have to keep their companies afloat.
Lastly, to render dispatch companies illegal.