Issues | THE FOREIGN ELEMENT Jan 1, 2013

Berlitz union wins raise, bonus in suit settlement

by James Mccrostie

The four-year legal battle between management and teachers at Berlitz Japan was declared over Thursday as both sides signed an agreement to end the company’s lawsuit against union officials. Claiming an 11-month strike by unionized teachers to be illegal, Berlitz Japan had sued five ...

Issues | THE ZEIT GIST Sep 4, 2012

With Berlitz beaten but not bowed, union fights on

by Patrick Budmar

Before instructors became embroiled in a fierce legal battle with Berlitz Japan, there was a time when the English language school chain’s robust image made it a top choice among foreign job-seekers. In particular, it was the company’s good reputation over competing language chains ...

Issues | LABOR PAINS Jul 17, 2012

Courts back workers' rock-solid right to strike

by Hifumi Okunuki

“Sensei, Japan is such a safe country because there are no strikes. Right?” A student at the university where I teach blindsided me with this remark the other day. The vast majority of Japanese under 30 have never even witnessed industrial action and imagine ...

Issues | THE ZEIT GIST Jul 3, 2012

The curious case of the eroding eikaiwa salary

by Patrick Budmar

Now fraught with job insecurity and low pay, there was a time when the work was steady and salaries were high for those who taught English in Japan. One only has to contrast the birth of the eikaiwa (English conversation) business in the late ...

Community | THE ZEIT GIST Mar 6, 2012

Berlitz court ruling unequivocal on basic right to strike

by James Mccrostie

After hearing more than three years of testimony, the judge took only a minute to read the court’s verdict rejecting Berlitz Japan’s ¥110 million lawsuit against striking teachers and their union and reaffirming organized labor’s right to take industrial action. According to the Feb. ...

Issues | THE ZEIT GIST Apr 28, 2009

Berlitz blitz against union bogs down

by James Mccrostie

After the second court hearing on April 20 in Berlitz Japan’s lawsuit against unionized teachers, the legal fight seems bogged down in a form of trench warfare. In December, after a year of strike action by over 100 teachers, the company filed a lawsuit ...

Issues | THE ZEIT GIST Feb 17, 2009

Berlitz launches legal blitz against striking instructors

by James Mccrostie

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 ...

Issues | THE ZEIT GIST Sep 30, 2008

Berlitz strike grows despite naysayers

by Louis Carlet

As union representative for Berlitz General Union Tokyo (Begunto), let me set the record straight. Despite scabs, naysayers and second-guessing pundits in the English-language media, Berlitz teachers are making history. With more than 100 teachers striking at dozens of schools around the Kanto region ...

Issues | THE ZEIT GIST May 6, 2008

As parent firm posts record profits, Berlitz teachers strike back

by John Spiri

Question: How do you get to be on the Forbes list of the world’s billionaires? You might inherit your wealth, take risks and get lucky, or work for it. For Soichiro Fukutake, owner of Berlitz’s parent company Benesse, it’s a case of “all the ...

Issues | THE ZEIT GIST Dec 11, 2007

'Eikaiwa' firms face Nova fallout

by Trevor Clarke

Too big, too fast, and with too little quality — that’s the consensus view of many industry analysts on former language-school market leader Nova Corp., whose collapse left over 420,000 students and 4,000 non-Japanese instructors without an “eikaiwa” home. The Nova affair has already ...