Nova Union To Give Lessons For Food

1 November 2007

Nova teachers offer classes for food

By REIJI YOSHIDA
Staff writer

A union representing teachers of Nova Corp. said Thursday its ranks will soon launch a "Lesson-for-Food" campaign in which they will offer free classes to students of the failed foreign-language school chain in exchange for basic food or meals.

The union said in Tokyo that it has also started accepting donations to help Nova teachers who find themselves destitute and face being evicted from their homes, said Bob Tench, president of the Nova branch of the National Union of General Workers Tokyo Nambu.

"Why are we doing this? People have no money . . . they have no food," Tench told reporters at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. "This is a crisis that is rapidly turning into a tragedy."

According to the union and government sources, large numbers of Nova teachers, mainly foreign, have not been paid for months as the school's finances tanked.

Louis Carlet, deputy general secretary of the union, said it is hard to gauge exactly how many people are in dire straits because all schools were closed Oct. 26, when Nova filed for court protection under the Corporate Rehabilitation Law.

Two court-appointed administrators for Nova are now searching for a sponsor to help rebuild the firm.

But finding a sponsor will not help solve the immediate problems of Nova teachers because it will take time for the company to reopen for business and start settling unpaid salaries, Tench said.

NOVAの労働組合代表者らが会見　「今後は生徒らに食事と交換に授業をする予定」

会社更生法適用を申請した英会話学校最大手「NOVA」の労働組合の代表者らが会見し、「講師らは給料が未払いで、今後は生徒らに食事と交換に授業をする予定だ」と危機的­状況を訴えた。
都内で会見したNOVAの労働組合の代表は、「会社側から直接的な説明がまったくないまま、未払い賃金について待つように言われ続け、猿橋(さはし)前社長はうそばかりつ­いてきた」などと述べた。
また大勢の講師らは、「給料が未払いで食費もなく、母国に帰る旅費もない」と危機的状況について訴え、今後は講師が授業をする代わりに、生徒が食事を提供するというプログ­ラムを始めたいとしている。

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Nova
• Japan
• union
• food
• lessons
• instructors

[DrJoshMc]

Why anyone with enough knowledge of Japan would work for Nova is beyond me. This is why I went to Japan on a holiday first and asked around about McEikaiwa.

The last time I checked GABA was doing fine anyway. They are miles ahead of Nova given the fact that they haven't overgrown into rural districts. Slow and steady wins the race.

[TucsonMan1976]

I doubt that GABA is next. There earnings on JASDAQ grow steadily every quarter with the exception of the last quarter of O7 which witnessed the NOVA collapse. Consumer anxiety seems to have cooled since then.

[lone1980]

Nova is Dead.. GABA is next in line...