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flyer
Joined: 16 May 2003
Posts: 539
Location: Sapporo Japan
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 Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 11:54 am Post subject: |
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| gwynnie86 wrote: |
Interac emailed us today to put these rumours to rest. They say that while they are dissolving "old" Interac and forming a new company (by merging with others), this will have no effect on our jobs. They also reassured us that they are in no financial difficulty.
The thing is, we work for public schools. This is not the same as NOVA or GEOS, who rely on private students. I don't see how the same thing could happen, unless I am being naive, but the BoE wouldn't just be able to drop the contracts in the middle of the year, surely - they would at least keep us on until the end of our contracts in March and then drop us... right?
As for Interac having a bad reputation in Osaka, well, I have heard bad things about that branch of Interac. The thing is that every branch is run by different people, and unfortauntely that particular branch seems to be run very badly (they shove their ALTs in the middle of nowhere and give them no help). What you have to remember is that other branches are great and really do look after their employees (they try to, anyway) - I say this in the realisation that not every company is secretly evil and deceitful. Surely no business tells all its employees if it is in financial difficulty at first, anyway, it would just cause everyone to leave out of fear and put them in even more financial danger. |
thanks for bringing us up to date |
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Samurai
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 57
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 1:07 pm Post subject: |
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Deleted.
Last edited by Samurai on Thu Sep 30, 2010 12:14 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 2:00 pm Post subject: |
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| gwynnie86 wrote: |
| Interac emailed us today to put these rumours to rest. They say that while they are dissolving "old" Interac and forming a new company (by merging with others), this will have no effect on our jobs. |
Let's hope for the best.
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| They also reassured us that they are in no financial difficulty. |
I am a cynic sometimes, but I will suggest that every ALT keep their eyes open.
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| The thing is, we work for public schools. This is not the same as NOVA or GEOS, who rely on private students. |
Do you know what happened at NOVA? It was an underhanded criminal president that pocketed money.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=anM2GNuZ.3_4
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090827a1.html
It was discovered only after customers complained. Any company, even Interac, could have something similar happen. (I'm not insinuating this is the case here, just that it is as possible as with NOVA.)
As for GEOS, it was poor management of funds. I believe GEOS had opened quite a few branch offices, then discovered it didn't have the resources to keep them, so they were closed,
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100423a2.html
and shortly thereafter amid a flurry of online rumors (far more than the ones over the years that claimed it would go under), GEOS declared bankruptcy. This, too, could happen with Interac, and my same disclaimer as above holds here. Just realize that any company will try to keep its operations running "as is" right up until the bitter end, and many times the front line employees never know about it. NCB was that way; teachers and students alike came to the office to see a sign on the door with no other warning. (You said it yourself at the end of your post, gwynnie86.)
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| the BoE wouldn't just be able to drop the contracts in the middle of the year, surely - they would at least keep us on until the end of our contracts in March and then drop us... right? |
I can't answer that, but I will keep good thoughts for all ALTs. |
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G Cthulhu
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
Posts: 1373
Location: Way, way off course.
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| Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 7:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Samurai wrote: |
| I think when you dissolve one company and create another company it can be considered a bit more than a re-organization. That aside the legalities of whether a dissolved company can simply pass the contracts on to the new one are what are being looked into at the moment. Interac seem to think it is perfectly legal...I have no idea...I'll let the lawyers decide on this. |
Allow me to help: you (&/or the GU) were scaremongering and got caught. Just be honest about it instead of dancing about the subject and move on.
And of course contracts can be assigned between companies. You would have to be living under a rock to not know that or have never run into it. |
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G Cthulhu
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
Posts: 1373
Location: Way, way off course.
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| Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 7:22 pm Post subject: |
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| gwynnie86 wrote: |
| The thing is, we work for public schools. This is not the same as NOVA or GEOS, who rely on private students. I don't see how the same thing could happen, unless I am being naive, but the BoE wouldn't just be able to drop the contracts in the middle of the year, surely - they would at least keep us on until the end of our contracts in March and then drop us... right? |
Putting aside the humour value in just how embarassed the GU should be right about now, it is easy to say that Interac could go under: GEOs and NOVA went under due to bad/inept management, not a lack of clients per se. There's no reason Interac management is any better. Or worse. That is to say, in and of itself, it is entirely possible they could drive themselves into the ground through bad management. Lots of companies do it all the time.
Just not this time, eh GU?  |
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kotoko
Joined: 22 Jun 2010
Posts: 109
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| Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 12:27 am Post subject: |
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ALTs do have to worry but they wont be dropped suddenly. If anything, it is us JETs who need to make sure we are able to re-contract if we would like (I have had a few friends who were told to go home or transfer). JETs cost the BoEs a set rate, which is of course high. Dispatch companies come and bid to supply all the non-JET ALTs, and (I don't know if this is everywhere but in the case of my city) the company that is the cheapest (ie cost the BoE the least) will win. Last year, the dispatches in my city were told that they had been out-bid by another company and they were put into uncertainty for months whilst the company bid a bit cheaper until they won back the city back. While this can lead to money problems, the place the money comes from first is the ALTs wages. All but 2 of the dispatches in my city are non-native speakers of English.
So I think it's going to be a long time before things like this scare become real. There are still a few stages to go, like replacing JETs with dispatches. |
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marley'sghost
Joined: 04 Oct 2010
Posts: 255
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| Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 3:20 am Post subject: |
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| kotoko wrote: |
ALTs do have to worry but they wont be dropped suddenly. If anything, it is us JETs who need to make sure we are able to re-contract if we would like (I have had a few friends who were told to go home or transfer). JETs cost the BoEs a set rate, which is of course high. Dispatch companies come and bid to supply all the non-JET ALTs, and (I don't know if this is everywhere but in the case of my city) the company that is the cheapest (ie cost the BoE the least) will win. Last year, the dispatches in my city were told that they had been out-bid by another company and they were put into uncertainty for months whilst the company bid a bit cheaper until they won back the city back. While this can lead to money problems, the place the money comes from first is the ALTs wages. All but 2 of the dispatches in my city are non-native speakers of English.
So I think it's going to be a long time before things like this scare become real. There are still a few stages to go, like replacing JETs with dispatches. |
Your description of the bidding between dispatch companies is dead on, and the situation you described a common, if not a yearly occurence for most of us.
JET's days are numbered, sadly. I came over as a JET and am still sticking around as a dispatch ALT. 2 out of 3 of the placements I've had since then were to replace JETs that were being phased out. The few (few) schools that are really, really serious about their AETs will hire them directly. For overwhelming majority that are not, contracting dispatch is easier than contracting the JET programme. |
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