Interac (Japan)

This article is about the Japanese company. For the Canadian interbank network, see Interac.

Interac

Founded	September 1972
Headquarters	Tokyo, Japan
Services	Education, consultation, publishing, language testing
Website	http://www.interac.co.jp/ (in Japanese)

Interac is a Japanese comprehensive educational consultation company. The name is an acronym for International Education Research and Analysis Corporation. Founded in 1972 by Roice Krueger, While Interac's business originally concentrated on providing business English classes at companies the majority of their business is now concentrated in providing Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) to elementary, middle, and high public schools. Interac provides teachers to approximately 1,400 schools around Japan. The company has over 10 domestic branches within Japan, with an associated school and office in Provo, Utah and offices in Oxford, England; Melbourne, Australia; and Kingston, Jamaica. There are approximately 100 administrative staff and over 2,400 native-speaking Assistant Language Teachers and language consultants for English and other languages.

The company is currently owned and run by Advantage Partners as of March 2010.

Controversy

On June 30, 2007, NHK broadcast the story of Samantha Bouton, an American ALT living in Chiba Prefecture working for Interac and contracted to work in Japanese schools. The report notes that each week, Ms. Bouton, working with her teacher colleagues, makes her teaching schedule which she then sends to Interac. The company then returns the schedule as her official schedule. The report continues by saying this is, in fact, in conflict with Japanese law. Further, she is available for work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., five days a week, for a total of 40 hours; however, her contract with Interac is for 29.5 hours only. It was widely reported at the time that this made her ineligible for enrollment in Shakai hoken (Japanese Social Insurance). According to the union representing Interac unionized teachers, this rationale for coverage denial was recently rendered moot due to the Japanese government recently stating that there is, in fact, no minimum legal work time requirement for enrollment in Shakai hoken. Furthermore, no company would ever be denied enrolling their employees in the Social Insurance program.

The January 5, 2008 edition of The Japan Times carried a front-page story titled Assistant language teachers in trying times The article discusses the state of ALTs in Japan, and specifically deals with some of the problems experienced by Ms. Bouton while contracted with Interac.

Contract system

Usually, Interac ALTs working in Japanese public schools are hired using a gyomu-itaku or "entrusted service contract." This type of contract stipulates that the ALT is in no way directed by the staff at the school or the local board of education. Strictly speaking, the ALT may only do what is exactly written on their work assignment. This makes it virtually impossible to adapt to conditions in constantly changing classrooms. Besides the practical difficulties, the Japanese Education and Labor Ministries have declared that this use of the gyomu-itaku contract system violates Japan's Dispatch Law. The Ministries cited education law that stipulates that all instructors in a school must be under the direct control of the principal. Since ALTs with gyomu-itaku contracts are only directed by their company, said contracts are illegal. [1]

Union presence

General Union

In western Japan Interac teachers are represented by the General Union, a member of the National Union of General Workers, which is itself a member of Zenrokyo (National Trade Union Council).

The GU branch was declared on May 25 1993. A number of teachers who wanted to improve conditions joined the GU. Negotiations were not fruitful and the union went to dispute mode, with strikes, picketing, and the dispute received a large amount of press coverage.

In 2007 the GU surveyed boards of education in Osaka prefecture, and found that 23 of them were employing Assistant Language Teachers through illegal itaku contracts. The union reported this to the Osaka Labor Bureau and the boards of education were ordered to stop.

2009 was a busy year for the GU Interac branch. Interac teachers working at Kurashiki in Okayama prefecture, approached the local board of education. They sought to be hired directly, rather than being employed by Interac and dispatched. The board of education refused the teachers, who then approached the GU. The GU took up the case on their behalf, and after threats of losing their jobs and attempts to evict teachers from city-provided accommodation, the GU won direct hire for 4 out of 7 members from the Kurashiki board of education, and the other three members got dispatch positions in other areas in Okayama.

The GU also demanded that Interac enroll all its teachers in unemployment insurance.

In Autumn 2009 the GU sent a survey to all the city boards of education in Aichi prefecture. 16 replied that they used teachers on itaku contracts. On October 19 2009, the GU sued Interac at the Osaka Labor Commission, submitted documents to the Aichi labor bureau, and visited the Aichi Prefectural Board of Education to inform the board of education that it was allowing illegal itaku contracts, the use of which breached the dispatch law and the employment security law.

In response to the Labor Commission case brought by the GU against Interac, on July 26, 2010 the Osaka Labor Commission ruled that Interac had committed an unfair labor practice by refusing to hold collective bargaining with the union. As a result, Interac was ordered to hand-deliver an apology to the union, and banned from bidding on government projects in Osaka Prefecture. Interac appealed the ruling to the Central Labor Commission in Tokyo, and on February 28th 2011 a settlement was brokered between Interac and the GU.

Other unions

In southern Japan Interac teachers are represented by the Fukuoka General Union which along with the General Union is also a member of the National Union of General Workers, which is itself a member of Zenrokyo (National Trade Union Council).

In the Tokyo area in 2005, at Tokyo Nambu union (another member of the National Union of General Workers) there was also a Nambu Interac Branch that was dissolved and combined with other ALT branches to form the Nambu ALTs in 2009. In 2010, the Nambu ALTs, along with the majority of Nambu FWC branches, voted to leave Nambu and form the Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union (Tozen). In the Tokyo area and north eastern Japan, Interac, Maxceed and Selti teachers are unionized in the Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union Tozen ALTs branch.

Group companies

Interac is a part of the Selnate Group. Other related companies include:

• Selti
• Maxceed

See also

• Education in Japan
• Tozen - Tokyo General Union
• General Union
• JET Programme
• Language education
• Teaching English as a foreign language