Let's Japan.org Debunking Eikaiwa and Ramblings in Japan

Old news is fun! The Japan Times reports on Yano Research's survey on the foreign language learning market in Japan, which I wrote about this at the beginning of August and touched on again earlier this month. The only difference with today's article is that the JT spoke with somebody at GEOS.

Susumu Ikegami, a spokesman for Geos Corp., which runs English-language schools in Japan and other countries, said they have been facing a serious decline.

"As the number of students decreased, the number of classrooms also declined," said Ikegami, who declined to give the figure for the classrooms.

Ikegami said the market's downward trend began about five years ago, although the reason is hard to pinpoint. However, he pointed out that the bankruptcy of Nova Corp. in October 2007 had some impact.

It's amazing that Ikegami can't figure out why business is down. You can try and blame NOVA, Lehman Brothers, or swine flu, but you can only wring so much mileage out of those excuses. The article ends with this brilliant plan:

However, Ikegami of Geos said the overall outlook for the language-school market in Japan doesn't appear bright.

"We have 53 schools overseas, and they are doing pretty well. So, while there is the chance of growth from a global outlook, we don't really have a good picture for the Japanese market. Rather than getting more students, we are working to run the business more economically," Ikegami said.

Things don't look good down the road, so let's cut costs? That's it? The market has been sliding for years and GEOS is still at the cut costs/efficiency stage? The article is titled "Few answers for the language market." Is the problem about finding answers to the downturn or the dreadful way in which eikaiwa schools conduct business?

My guess is that it's the latter, with NOVA being the straw that broke the camel's back. All the schools really care about is putting bums in chairs and vacuuming their students' wallets, and NOVA was the poster child of this kind of behavior. METI's press release　describes it in vivid detail, from pressure sales to exaggerated advertising to underhanded refund practices to outright thievery and deception. Other schools have tried to blame its instructors for the failings of the company or sue them for exercising their right to strike.

But the bad behavior doesn't stop at eikaiwa. Dispatch teaching is just as bad. Not only does the job have no benefits, instructors are disposable employees that boards of education pick and choose from and discard at will. Although teaching English looks promising in elementary schools, it should not be forgotten that the potentially lucrative job scene hinges on school budgets. BOEs with no money are more likely to stick with a Japanese teacher than hire an ALT.

The homestay business is more of the same. Gateway21 tore a page from the NOVA playbook with 950 million yen vanishing into thin air as the end result.

To put it bluntly, the rot is extensive, and teachers and students know it. But if the Susumu Ikegamis of the business can't understand why business is bad, then there's not much hope for them. What's the answer that eikaiwas should be looking for? How about: Stop abusing your employees and ripping off your customers?

When we last saw Berlitz, it was suing five of its instructors and two officials of the National Union of General Workers (NUGW) Tokyo Nambu for ¥110 million in damages each on the grounds that their strike was illegal and that the union was trying to damage the company.

A column in the Japan Times, however, notes that the court proceedings are going nowhere fast. Instead of pressing their case, Berlitz appears to have decided on a battle of attrition by waiting out its instructors.

Both sides appear prepared for a lengthy legal battle. After the first January court date for Berlitz's lawsuit, Ken Yoshida, one of the union's lawyers, said the company's legal team was "stalling," and that it would be a long, drawn-out court fight. So far, Yoshida's prediction seems to be proving accurate. Berlitz lawyers have been repeatedly late submitting the required documents for both their suit against striking teachers and the Labor Commission hearings. This leads to further delays because union lawyers don't have time to prepare a proper response.

According to Timothy Langley, a lawyer and president of Langley Enterprise K.K., a consultancy specializing in labor issues, such delays by company lawyers are "no big deal, the court is very lenient." He speculates that "it could be their litigation strategy."

"Who can survive this fight the longest? It isn't the employees," said Langley. "The company can survive this fight for a long time. It's one of the costs of doing business. The employees are doing it because it's their livelihood. It wears on the employees much more than on the company."

As the column notes, suing workers for an illegal strike is an attack on Article 28 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to organize and to bargain and act collectively, and would have ramifications for industrial relations across Japan. Fortunately, the law is on the side of the instructors, and Berlitz's argument that the strike is illegal is very weak.

The second hearing in the suit lasted a matter of minutes. One judge complained that after reading the company's recently filed documents he still couldn't understand their reasoning for why the strike was illegal. He told Berlitz's lawyers to provide a concise and understandable summary of their arguments before the next hearing. Looking at the crowd of union supporters in the courtroom, the judge added that the summary was necessary not only to help him understand the company's position, but also for the benefit of all those coming to hear the case.

Campbell expressed disappointment at the latest delay. "It's the dragging-on that's very frustrating. They sued in December and you'd think they would have their evidence prepared. In this case they sued and then prepared their evidence. Not only that, but they took an enormous amount of time and still haven't finished it all."

Union rep Carlet added, "It's outrageous that the company has submitted almost nothing in terms of evidence that the strike is illegal. They haven't specified where the damages are coming from. All they did was sue, and they haven't come out with anything."

Since the article compares the case to "trench warfare," I expect there will a lot casualties once this battle is over. But this is something worth fighting for. If instructors don't stand up for their rights, they will forever be stomped on by their eikaiwa employers. That said, I wonder if Berlitz isn't shooting itself in the foot with this lawsuit. Berlitz claims that the instructors intended to harm the company, but when they decided to sue their own employees, they showed everyone for what they really are: a malicious, union-busting employer.

Great company to work for:

It has been 14 months since members of the Berlitz General Union Tokyo (Begunto) first downed chalk and launched rotating strikes against the language school Berlitz Japan.

The strike has grown into the longest and largest sustained strike by language teachers in Japan. While about 500 Nova teachers struck during that firm's collapse in 2007, the action only lasted a day.

The dispute entered a new phase on Dec. 3 when, after nearly a year of strike action by union members, Berlitz Japan served notice they were suing the five teachers who serve as volunteer Begunto executives, as well as two officials of the National Union of General Workers (NUGW) Tokyo Nambu: President Yujiro Hiraga and Louis Carlet, the deputy general secretary and case officer for Begunto. The suit also names NUGW Tokyo Nambu and its Begunto branch as defendants.

Claiming the strike is illegal and that the union is trying to damage the company, Berlitz Japan is suing for ¥110 million in damages from each defendant.

It's not as if Berlitz is hurting for money. Benesse, its parent corporation, made a profit of ¥384 billion in fiscal 2007. Last year was even better:

The financial health of Benesse Corp., Berlitz Japan's parent company, also influenced the timing of the strike. In their annual report for the financial year ending March 31, 2008, Benesse recorded their highest-ever earnings. Operating income grew 11.4 percent and Berlitz International Inc. achieved its best result since being bought by Benesse. Operating income for Benesse's language company division rose 36 percent from the year before to ¥6.35 billion, in part due to higher revenues and profits at Berlitz International, which benefited from "an increase in the number of lessons taken worldwide, particularly in Japan and Germany," according to the report.

How malicious is Berlitz? Despite record earnings, it has decided that suing a few teachers and the strike organizers is preferable to sitting down and negotiating. A company that sues it own workers for exercising their right to strike? That's a company you don't want to work for. Screw Berlitz.

Further reading

BEGUNTO - The Berlitz General Union Tokyo website

As parent firm posts record profits, Berlitz teachers strike back

Berlitz strike grows despite naysayers

BEGUNTO is on strike: Let's Japan forums