Interac Health Insurance MIS-information and The Birth of the Corrector:
Act Four - THE CORRECTION
Subject: An open letter to “Shakai Hokenless”, from the Interac Union, a subdivision of the General Union
From: “Interac Union” (interacunion at gmail dot com)
Date: Fri, 18 May 2007Hello Hokenless,
We (the Interac Union) have been made aware of the email that was sent
out to a number of our members and non-member fellow teachers alike,
and we thought it immediately prudent to clear up some misinformation
that was included within it (either intentionally, unintentionally or
both). Let’s go through this point by point shall we?
————————————————————————-
1. “First of all, the claim that you are required to be enrolled in a Japanese Government Insurance program (which both of these are) is simply ridiculous.”I’m not sure how long you have been with Interac, or how long you have
been in Japan but you are clearly wrong on this issue. I challenge
you to instruct Interac’s teachers to not trust either side of this
issue (yours or the General Union’s/Interac Union’s), but instead have
your teachers go straight to the source.
Have your teachers go to the city hall in which they live (have them
take a Japanese friend if they are not yet confident of their Japanese
ability) and have them ask the city hall if they are required by law
to enroll in Kokumin Kenkou Hoken (Citizen’s Health Insurance) or
Shakai Hoken (Social Insurance).
I doubt that you will do this, because you know (or should know) that
the General Union (and the subdivision that is the Interac Union) is
correct on this issue. One of our members recently found this out
first hand, and found out that that because they have been living in
Osaka for a few years they had to pay for enrollment into the Kokumin
Kenkou Hoken (Citizen’s Health Insurance) retroactive to the date that
they moved here*. Fortunately, Kokumin Kenkou Hoken (Citizen’s Health
Insurance) is usually less than ¥2,000 per month (mine has been for
several years**), a real bargain actually, so it wasn’t as bad as it
could have been.
Funny how Interac never told this member that it was required. The
only thing truly “ridiculous” about this matter is how hard Interac
tries to hide information about the insurance issue from its employees
(and we both know the real reason why, but we will cover that
later…)
————————————————————————- 2. “There are numerous private foreign and Japanese Insurance providers, and many Japanese companies have opted to offer plans that do not include the government plan at all.”
Please name a few companies that do this. I would like to call and
confirm this. Don’t bother naming other Eikaiwa/Dispatch companies
though, because in the past few years actions by the General Union
have forced companies like NOVA, AEON and ECC to enroll their foreign
employers in Shakai Hoken (Social Insurance), as well as getting them
Nenkyuu (Paid vacation or personal days as required by law) and Koyou
Hoken (unemployment insurance).
NOVA: http://www.generalunion.org/news/news.php?id=62
AEON: http://www.generalunion.org/news/news.php?id=54
ECC: http://www.generalunion.org/news/news.php?id=46
As most people that have a TV may know, the insurance company called
Aflac ( http://www.aflac.co.jp/ ) has a strong presence here in Japan,
but it is primarily purchased as ADDITIONAL insurance to cover the
last 30% that Shakai Hoken (Social Insurance) does not cover. If your
teachers ask their fellow Japanese co-workers about this, they will
find this to be the case. (On a side note to the teachers, try making
that Aflac “duck call” in class. Kids love that.)
————————————————————————- 3. “This is not the first sensationalist statement that the union has made, and I fear that it will not be the last. Usually we realize that you can recognize how ridiculous their claims are, and in most cases, simply false.”
Cute. And expected. Usually, those who are part of the problem call
the claims of whistle-blowers things like “sensationalist” and
“conspiratorial”. I trust that all of the teachers will be able to
see through this statement as an act of desperation, especially when
they go to the city hall of the city in which they live and learn the
truth for themselves (per your request).
————————————————————————- 4. “We feel that they are trying to take advantage of your lack of specialized information regarding this area, so we send this email to calm any worries you might have.”
When Interac’s teachers find out for themselves that the claims made
by the General Union (and the subdivision of the Interac Union) are
true, they will know who it really “trying to take advantage” of their
“lack of specialized information regarding this area”. As it stands
now, the General Union with it’s recently released PDF file included
in the email titled “Your health insurance”, has given probably given
Interac Teachers more information about Shakai Hoken (Social
Insurance) and Kokumin Kenkou Hoken (Citizen’s Health Insurance) than
Interac EVER has (nationwide).
As we both know (and if you don’t know, you should learn) the real
reason that Interac/Maxceed avoids telling it’s employees about this
issue is because Interac/Maxceed doesn’t want to pay the 50% of Shakai
Hoken (Social Insurance) which they are expected by law to pay for all
of their full-time employees (this of course would depend on the
contract and the General Union can provide your teachers with more
fact-based information on that if they wish to know). I wonder, by
the way, how many staff members in the Osaka office have Shakai Hoken
(Social Insurance)? All of them? Just curious…
————————————————————————- 5. “Beware of any group that intentionally uses such questionable tactics.”
Indeed. Your teachers should beware of the dishonest, and that is why
they should find out the truth for themselves by going straight to the
source in the city Hall (per your request) or even by asking their
fellow Japanese coworkers. Wouldn’t you agree?————————————————————————-
6. “In spite of having claimed to be an “Interac Union” in the past (There is none) and I notice that this time they chose not to use that misleading tactic again.”The “Interac Union” in Osaka is a loose term for the General Union’s
individual members that are employed by Interac/Maxceed, and is in no
way “misleading”. The General Union website’s structure page outlines
how the General Union is branched out
http://www.generalunion.org/structure.htm
and more information on the affiliations of all nationwide Unions here
http://www.generalunion.org/affiliation.htm
You may notice that at the bottom of this organization chart NOVA,
ECC, YMCA and Berlitz are listed as branches and the Interac/Maxceed
branch is not clearly listed. This is because the Interac Union is an
official part of Nambu FWC (National Union of General Workers Tokyo
Nambu)
see the map here:
http://fukuoka.generalunion.org/japanmaptext.gif
The Namba (Tokyo area) Branch of the Interac Union even has a small
website set up here:
***http://www.interacunion.org/
This website is rather simple looking because most of the necessary
information is posted on the NanbuFWC site:
http://www.nambufwc.org/
Hokenless, a small piece of advice if I may, you might try doing a basic
Google search before making a such an emphatically “concrete”
statement regarding the existence of an organization next time. I
would also like to point out to you that, Interac has been well aware
of the Union AND the Interac Union in particular as is evidenced by a
few examples of the cowardice displayed BY Interac Nationwide:
http://nambufwc.org/2005/06/10/interac-runs-from-collective-bargaining/
http://www.generalunion.org/news/news.php?id=75
As it stands now, the Interac Union of Osaka and the General Union
have decided that, just to make certain that everything is official
and everyone is on the same page, from now on (after this email) all
communication from the Interac Union will come straight from the
General Union headquarters. This will help to make sure that our
message is on track and unified, in solidarity.
————————————————————————- 7. “And I know that so far, as a result of the questionable activities of the union, a number of cities have opted to hire Japanese people to
teach English in elementary schools instead of foreigners.”First of all Hokenless, slandering the union to spread FUD (that’s Fear,
Uncertainty and Doubt) has proven to be unwise in the past. Let’s
not go there shall we?
http://www.generalunion.org/news/news.php?id=29
http://www.generalunion.org/news/news.php?id=13
http://www.generalunion.org/rits/news.htm
And if we are going to talk about questionable tactics, I am inclined
to bring up some information that the General Union has found out from
many school boards in the Osaka area. The General Union has been told
that dispatch companies, including Interac/Maxceed, claim that for the
BOEs to hire ALTs directly, they must legally pay them ¥6,000,000 per
year. This lie is clearly perpetuated by dispatch companies to keep
their grip on the funding from the school boards. Interac/Maxceed
knows, like all dispatch companies know, that if the BOEs realize that
they can cut out the middle man and save money, the dispatch companies
will be out of a job.Second of all, if the BOEs choose not to hire ALTs, it probably has
more to do with a bit of Xenophobia, lack of respect for the
difficulty of teaching a foreign language without a native speaker
around to teach the teachers, and a bit of stinginess rather than
because of any demands for workers rights that the General Union has
made.
————————————————————————- 8. “If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free now or at any time
to ask us.”I would like to second this and I would like to not only offer the
General Union’s assistance in answering any questions (and we can back
up OUR claims on what is legal by pointing to the law – in English and
Japanese), but I would like to suggest to you again that you have your
teachers seek answers to their questions on their own by going to
their respective city halls (per your request).
————————————————————————- Now, as I sign off, I would like to point out that even though it is
illegal to fire an employee for being a union member, I will not sign
my actual name here because I feel that my anonymity is beneficial at
this point and time. I have kids to teach and I don’t want to be
harassed for trying to encourage other ALTs to seek the truth.I hope this letter has been informative for you, and your teachers,
and I encourage your teachers to learn as much as they can about the
laws of the country in which they live, even if they are only here for
a short while. I would also encourage the teachers to speak to the
General Union directly and consider joining if they wish to make their
working conditions better.Thanks for all your hard work!
Sincerely,
The Corrector
from the Interac Union (Osaka)
in solidarity with the
General Union
http://www.generalunion.org
PS - As always, those who do not want to be on the mailing list must
simply reply with an email with “REMOVE” in the subject line (this
does not include you Hokenless, because you are not actually on the email
list). Additionally, I would encourage ALTs to send this information
with anyone who might want to know it, and send all correspondence
dicetly(sic) to the General Union from now on.
* There is a limit to the amount of back pay one must pay if enrolling late, and that limit is two years. Still, two years of back pay can be a sizable chunk of money, and it is doubtful that Interac will admit fault for not informing their teachers about this requirement in the first place and accept responsibility by paying this back pay.
**Usually the price for the first year of enrollment in National Health Insurance (Kokumin Kenkou Hoken ) is around ¥1600 per month for a limit of one year, after which it gets more expensive. However, if you move to a new part of the country before the end of your year, you can have a new year at the cheapest price possible in your new city. The National Pension (Kokumin Nenkin) is actually a seperate fee however, that one is usually signed up for at the same time. This is a bit more expensive and is not based upon salary.
*** This domain name expired during the summer of 2007, and this link currently redirects to the website you are currently reading while the Nambu Branch site is being rebuilt.