You are here
Interac No More
As of October 1st, Interac will cease to exist, being bought out by Advantage Partners. This comes from the General Union, which cites an August 24 official government gazette containing the notice of the buyout. More about the buyout can be found on ESL Cafe and Hoofin's blog.
According to the GU's post, Interac and its owner, Selnate, will merge with Alphis (president: Josh Porter). The same Josh Porter is also president of AP18 (Advantage Partnets), which will assume the legal rights and duties of the deal.
The GU then wonders what will happen to Interac's ALTs.
- Will ALTs keep their jobs?
- With the dissolution of Interac and new management under Advantage Partners and the new company formed in Interac's wake, honor existing ALT contracts?
- If contracts are unilaterally canceled, will they be deemed terminated or defaulted by Interac?
- If no bidding is made for ALT contracts after October, isn't it against the law to hand those contracts over to an unrelated company?
- Will Interac's employment contracts and license as a dispatch company still remain valid?
There are plenty of unknowns for teachers, but equally important is why Interac is being dissolved. One can assume that it's all about money. Eikaiwa has been in the dumps for a long time, with major schools Nova and GEOS going bankrupt. When Interac has been in the news, it has been for all the wrong reasons. Interac is notorious for its poor working conditions and illegal dispatch contracts. Most recently, it has been found guilty of unfair labor practices and the Osaka Prefectural government has informed its divisions not to enter into contracts with Interac.
If it's past has finally caught up with it, dissolving the company and re-emerging under a new name looks like a way to dodge any legal and financial obligations. Unfortunately, it leaves the teachers working there in limbo.
Comments
Unfortunately...
Unfortunately Interac is not gone, just reorganized.
Shawn points out that the decline of eikaiwa business may be a factor in the company's decision to reorganize, but seeing as how Interac gets most (although not all) of its money from public contracts (ALT dispatch) rather than from the private sector ('walk-in' English lessons) like Nova/GEOS, I don't think that the eikaiwa industry's crumbling had a major influence on Interac's reorganization.
What will (or might come close to) bring down dispatch companies (not only Interac but the others like it as well) is spreading the word in the news of the things that go wrong with them. Interac is trying to make itself "better" by trying to get its ALTs to comply with the gyomu-itaku contracts, and by providing paid annual medical check-ups (all of this, most likely, in order to appease the union people). But that doesn't change the fact that they don't provide social insurance for their instructors, that they cut instructor salaries up to 4 times a year (March, April, August and December), or any of the other deceitful things that they do.
It takes a lot of time and patience perhaps, but it can happen. ALTs can dump their dispatch company to get direct contracts with their BOEs. It can happen with or without the union's help. But I can't stress enough that it takes a lot of work on the part of the ALT, either way.
I would love to celebrate Interac's demise
They are indeed a bunch of pricks. Especially Kerry Dickson, Steve Madsen, Brian Mcdonald, Denis Cusak, Andy Tetlow, Mr. Iwahashi, Mr. Shibutani, Jody Mcdaniel, all of whom are scum.
I think the source of the problem is Japanese racism. The Japanese always want to create a situation where a gaijin is being capitalized on by them, underneath them, treated like an animal, not respected for their skills, and barely given enough to survive. And, since shit rolls downhill all of the gaijin above, sold out other gaijin to protect their own ass. This is what happened in a lot of companies in this industry.
However, I have not seen any real evidence that Intereac is going bankrupt. I heard the same thing years ago, but they stayed around for a lot longer, so I think we can just hope our dreams will come true and Interac will finally get their justice. But, for now, it is just hope. But, if it does happen. I will be celebrating with a double shot of the best bourbon.
Pages
Add new comment