Ministry Slaps Down Nova

[Iraira]

They both look like they could benefit from skipping a few meals.

I thought it, but wussed out on saying it. I figured saying it would only make the devil happier as he could stick me in a pit that much deeper in hell. Thanks for jumping on that hand grenade for me.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I thought it, but wussed out on saying it. I figured saying it would only make the devil happier as he could stick me in a pit that much deeper in hell. Thanks for jumping on that hand grenade for me.

LOL. Me too. Then I remembered how fucking fat I am.

[American Oyaji]

Unions are for people who can basely do one job, For example a janitor, school teachers or an Airline pilot (Not necessarily the bottom rung).
The thing is.......They only know one thing, and so they need protection.

[font=Arial][size=84]Those of us who are Jacks of all Traits, really have no need for unions.

So basically those who went to school for a specific trade need unions, like nurses.

Unions have their uses. But they can also be a hindrance to a company and to its workers if it gets to cosy with a company.

[sillygirl]

They both look like they could benefit from skipping a few meals.

Hee hee!

[IkemenTommy]

LOL. Me too. Then I remembered how fucking fat I am.

It's like the old saying "don't throw rocks when you live in a glass house." I couldn't have said it myself!

[ttjereth]

Jack of all Trades

master of none
but often better than a master of one


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_of_all_trades%2C_master_of_none

This has been your pointless triva interruption for the day.

[ttjereth]

They both look like they could benefit from skipping a few meals.

The Nova diet! Lose weight instantly when you are too poor to afford food after one month without work because you're a friggin moron!

[kusai Jijii]

It sounds to me like you're saying people who are very stupid should join unions.

All I'm saying is that I dont think the J-Gov should use MY taxes to help these people out. They made their own beds. I want taxes spent on other things like improving the shitty health care system here or puting a couple of computers in my kid's elementary school. I dont want it spent bailing out irresponsible gaijin chumps. If those Nova teachers had been paying into the unemployment insurance scheme, then they wouldnt be sitting in dark rooms eating cup noodles. And if they'd bothered to have an emmergency fund of say 15 man saved, they would be on the first plane out of here. It aint that complicated.

[Mulboyne]

AFP: English teachers feel abandoned after Japanese giant collapses

For years Japan has welcomed English teachers such as Kristen Moon with open arms to fill its many language schools but when industry giant Nova collapsed they found themselves on their own. Critics say the fiasco has exposed the lack of an adequate safety net for foreign workers in Japan, even as the world's second-largest economy gradually opens its doors to overcome a shrinking workforce and an ageing population. Moon arrived in Japan little more than six months before the nation's largest foreign language school filed for bankruptcy protection last month, leaving thousands of foreign teachers without jobs or pay. Concerned for her welfare, Moon's students asked her to keep teaching them outside of the school and took her out for dinner and karaoke. Their generosity almost made up for the problems, she said, while sipping a coffee at a cafe in Ichikawa, on the eastern outskirts of Tokyo. "I feel my cultural contribution to Japanese society through the teaching of English is valued by individuals, but the government has exploited this need and led to companies earning huge profits," she said. Moon, a 23-year-old American, is one of about 4,500 foreign teachers left jobless after the collapse of the language school...more...

[This is a pen]

Jack of all Trades

LOL, that's funny.

OOppss!

[canman]

I tend to agree with kusai jiji, I think at least some of these foreigners are waiting for some kind of hand out from the gov't. Why else would they still be here. Nova is gone and the new company, or companies, aren't going to pay you. There is no money. So if you are living on 200 yen a day, get out of the country. Ask your parents for a loan, sell your computer, disconnect your cell phone. Do whatever you have to do, but get the hell out.
Also for gods sake I wish that people would stop dressing up in the Nova rabbit costume, it makes any attempt at serious discussions impossible.

[Takechanpoo]

[Behan]

Mulboyne, I think Ichikawa, where the girl was for her interview, is where that young female Nova teacher was when she was murdered.
Not that that matters too much. Just a coincidence. But they are about the same age, too.
Sorry, I am the king of non sequiturs...

[GuyJean]

NOVA means 'no go' in Spanish... And now for something totally unrelated..







GJ

[Mulboyne]

I think some of the NOVA teachers are still in shock. I mean that genuinely and not as a put-down. Every day they can read something new about their company and some might feel that they are at the centre of a drama which is still playing out. Most of the teachers are young and there are probably even some who find the whole affair a little exciting. While Nova's story was only a sidebar in the overseas media, and has all but disappeared from most outlets now, it is still raging in Japan. The union also believes it is in some kind of ongoing negotiation with the administrators but it isn't obvious that the administrators feel the same way. It is possible that the union might be able to squeeze something more from the new owner, who will want to manage the transition smoothly, but it seems a bit ambitious to expect them to right the wrongs of the old company.

It does appear that there remains some kind of hope that the government will "do something". In a monetary sense they are already on the hook for 80% of the unpaid wages through their insurance scheme because the administrators have indicated that there are no funds available in NOVA to meet that bill. I can see one argument for the government bearing more responsibility: NOVA must have been one of the largest visa sponsors in the country. Even allowing for those on spouse visas, immigration accepted NOVA's credentials to bring in 4,000 or so immigrants. There is, then, a degree of organizational culpability but this doesn't mean the government ought to throw people a money lifeline over and above what is already on offer. Instead, you would hope that immigration would treat visa renewal cases more sympathetically but that is likely wishful thinking.

Behan, I think you are right about Ichikawa. FG member tinateoh lives out that way and knows the coffee shop where Lindsay Anne Hawker taught Ichihashi. I wondered whether the overseas press would link the two stories by pointing out that low pay and conditions were a factor behind NOVA teachers taking private students. We all know that teachers would take private students regardless of pay and conditions because it is relatively easy money but that wouldn't stop a journalist conjuring up a story. As it is, only one BBC report online mentioned the murder in passing. Perhaps most didn't make the connection or else decided it might trivialize the tragedy.

[amdg]

Most of them are latino or slavish, though. - NSFW

Takechan, that's probably your best accidental blunder yet. "Slavic" was the word you were probably looking for.


Slavish –adjective
1. of or befitting a slave: slavish subjection.
2. being or resembling a slave; abjectly submissive: He was slavish in his obedience.
3. base; mean; ignoble: slavish fears.
4. deliberately imitative; lacking originality: a slavish reproduction.

[GomiGirl]

Mulby, I think you are right in saying that most of the teachers are still in shock. Most people outside Nova prophesized the downfall of Nova a while back, but the teachers themselves really had no clue as they are mainly young and live in an English teacher bubble rather than listening to broader news.

[GuyJean]

.. I can see one argument for the government bearing more responsibility: NOVA must have been one of the largest visa sponsors in the country. Even allowing for those on spouse visas, immigration accepted NOVA's credentials to bring in 4,000 or so immigrants. There is, then, a degree of organizational culpability but this doesn't mean the government ought to throw people a money lifeline over and above what is already on offer. Instead, you would hope that immigration would treat visa renewal cases more sympathetically but that is likely wishful thinking..

Nah.. I stand by my statement:
[quote].. I thought most teachers used NOVA as a passport to Japan anyway]I know there were serious teachers at NOVA, but I think 80% used the company to first get to Japan, get the visa, then find a better paying job.. I don't have much sympathy for 'teachers' who have no ability to either create their own opportunities from this media frenzy, or go home..

GJ

[amdg]

True - but don't forget that quite a few of them had only just arrived here in Japan a few months or even weeks ago. Wrong place wrong time. Now they're frantically looking around at the remaining schools to find a job and they think they may as well stay just a few more weeks just to see what turns up.

[Mike Oxlong]

NOVA means 'no go' in Spanish... And now for something totally unrelated..

http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp

Just as English speakers would not confuse "no table" with "notable", Spanish speakers wouldn't confuse "no va" with "nova".

[Taro Toporific]

.. And now for something totally unrelated..

And Now for Something Completely Different, ...NOT

Dead NOVA bunny.

[GuyJean]

Just as English speakers would not confuse "no table" with "notable", Spanish speakers wouldn't confuse "no va" with "nova".

Did I say anything about 'confusing' the meaning? Malapropisms are fun.. Something only English teachers can appreciate. For me, they are beyond my apprehension.

GJ

[American Oyaji]

I wonder if this incident was a set up.

What I mean is, did the government want NOVA to fail in order to decrease the number of foreigners in Japan? Did they think they would all just pack up and leave? I wonder...

[Mulboyne]

I wonder if this incident was a set up.

What I mean is, did the government want NOVA to fail in order to decrease the number of foreigners in Japan? Did they think they would all just pack up and leave? I wonder...

The government wasn't even aware that the punitive action would result in a collapse so I wouldn't spend too much time on that theory.

[American Oyaji]

I dunno Mul. Japanese policiticians can be really smart when it comes to what they want to happen and absolute morons about most other things.
I'm sure there had to be a few that knew what might happen.

[Takechanpoo]

I wonder if this incident was a set up.

What I mean is, did the government want NOVA to fail in order to decrease the number of foreigners in Japan? Did they think they would all just pack up and leave? I wonder...

I wish J-government or J-bureaucrats had intelligence like that!!!

[Mike Oxlong]

I dunno Mul. Japanese policiticians can be really smart when it comes to what they want to happen and absolute morons about most other things.
I'm sure there had to be a few that knew what might happen.

Sure! Some muckety muck's wife got a few private lessons; suddenly she stops bitchin' & complainin' at home. Papa bear gets suspicious and has her followed - next thing you know all NOVA teachers are outta work and facing deportation.

[American Oyaji]

[quote="Mike Oxlong"]Sure! Some muckety muck's wife got a few private lessons]

It's all my fault!!

[Mulboyne]

The Shukan Diamond has published an interview with Saruhashi where he rejects many of the allegations made against him although he doesn't appear to offer any counterarguments. ZAKZAK has an article in Japanese which carries some of the points. The full interview may end up on the magazine's website so more detail may be available shortly.

[canman]

Now I could be wrong, and I have searched high and low for any English news about this, but my wife just read in the Japanese newspaper that the gov't has decided to help out Nova teachers who are out of work. According to the article the teachers can remain in their apts, and receive money until they find another job. It doesn't say how long they will receive the money, or is it available to all, but there does seem to be some kind of assistance for them. Has anybody else heard or read this. I know kusai jiji won't be happy with this news.