St. Mary's International School Labor Dispute

Postcard from the Edge

stmaryslabordispute — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 01:17:57 +0000

Hello there! It has been ages since my last post. I had been hoping to leave this blog up to help anyone who needed to see what steps to take to fight an unfair dismissal. Though, reading back on some comments and letters, I wanted to tie up some loose ends. As well as comment on what, if anything, a big catastrophe like this earthquake could mean for foreign teachers.

Loose ends:

1. Ms. Tran cannot be contacted through this site. Nor am I allowed to give information on the union she is part of. The school would have a lot of motivation to try to link them to this site and cry defamation…(or maybe just cry). But, as we know, WordPress is great at protecting freedom of speech.

2. Many have been unclear on what it was that Ms. Tran got out of the settlement. In an unfair dismissal case, people sue for their job back, or the equivalent of back pay. In Ms. Tran’s case, it was for the job and no amount of money was specified. However, in settlements, it is always money that finishes the case. Getting her job back would have been weird for everyone.

3. Some have wondered what has happened to Ms. Tran and what she has learned. Well, she continues to putter about Tokyo, having dinner parties and doing her job. In her new work, well, the work of the last 2 years after leaving St. Mary’s, she has happily experienced the way teacher evaluation has been done at other institutions. For example, teachers are video taped and employers write a detailed report of what they saw with comments. All which is verifiable by looking at the tape. This is accompanied by a teacher self-evaluation and meetings with positive encouragement. Other teachers are required to watch each other’s tapes and write comments. All teachers undergo the same process, administered with objective rigor. Thus, when an evaluation comes out, you can bet it is useful and usable. It has been important to experience this fresh breath of professionalism. (My god. Isn’t this supposed to be normal?)

Japan in turmoil:

Many foreign teachers might have had a proper fright after that crazy earthquake on Friday March 11, 2011. Also, those nuclear meltdown warnings don’t sound so appetizing. Some might be tendering their resignation right now. Here are some ideas for those who are staying, regarding labor issues / education. (I am no expert, just FYI from a lowly blogger):

1. Thank you for continuing to stay in Japan. Your services are important for maintaining the level of education and economic progress of the country. Talk to your fellow teachers and employers about working together toward those goals. (An exodus of foreign teachers would be another huge setback for Japan, thus this is a time for teachers to recognize their worth).

2. Cooperate with your employer (on a reasonable level) to adjust to things like mandatory time off due to planned power cuts. Teachers on salary suffer less of course, but teachers being paid by the hour–you need to foresee how your income will be affected and decide what to do accordingly. Judge clearly to see if your employer is truly setback by the devastation or just using this event to justify layoffs that were in the works anyway etc. This is an important time to document things. Also, be aware that if you form your own union or join a pre-existing one, you become protected under Trade Union Law (which is can be a pre-emptive precaution to lay-offs and unfair firings etc). http://www.tabunka.org/special/trade.html

Stay informed with the news: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nhk-world-tv

and

The power cuts–(& find out if you can get to work on time!):
http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tepco.co.jp%2Findex-j.html&act=url

3. This is an amazing time in Japan. It can be used to educate students on humanitarian issues and the concept of rebuilding Japan. Talk to your staff about incorporating this into your curriculum from here on in. Make your school, students and staff on the forefront of helping to donate, conserve energy and preparing students to live in a country that has undergone a heavy blow etc. This is the post-WW2 moment and kick-in-the-pants that complacent and stagnate Japan has been waiting for. The help of foreign workers, English, and a motivated young generation is what is needed to get back on track. You are needed more than ever–foreign teachers committed to staying in Japan should get together and recognize that you are an important force of redemption and rebuilding here!!

Woohoo!!!

stmaryslabordispute — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 12:25:56 +0000

The historic signing of papers finally happened today!! Stubbornness finally caved. So, while I assume the teacher is out to celebrate, I at least squeezed out an inventory list!

1. Meeting so many amazing people along the way who understand exactly why you must do something. Check.
2. Witnessing the magical helpful spirit of Japanese friends who translated hundreds of documents within days. Check.
3. MAKING the other side listen and LOOK at evidence–in Collective Bargaining, in court. Check.
4. Believing in self-determination and seeing it realized. Check.
5. Dragging the other side through years of time-loss, expense, publicity. Check.
6. 12,000 audited hits and counting. Check.
7. Being recognized by alumni and students who follow this thing in other parts of the world. Check.
8. Making a lasting impression. Check.
9. Learning from every moment. Check.
10. Getting to know the lovely maternal and paternal spirit of so many parents at St. Mary’s. Check.
11. Wiping the other side’s smugness up with the mop they gave you. Check!
12. Seeing karmic retribution kick BUTTS. (Though they [ahem] were rather hard to miss). Check and Check!

…And although Richard Dawkins is right…I can’t help but say, God IS watching! The Old and New Testament God! And I like how He rolls His eyes at certain people, or at least pretends to sleep when they ask Him for things they don’t deserve. Awesome.

Woohoo!!! Stay tuned for more posts. I ‘ve wanted to post a few more things…I’ll get my act together soon!

This just in!

stmaryslabordispute — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 13:27:02 +0000

Today, the teacher met with the school’s principal and business manager for what was supposed to be a final court meeting.

It was a good thing Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum were left back at base camp. Though it is always fun to see them, weeble-wobbling down a hallway.

But what am I saying? The small-stuffy-room meetings had no room for me either! I have gotten my information downstream…

But, I’m such a discerning listener! This is what I’ve learned

So, the judge meets with each side individually to hammer out details. The other side has to wait outside the room. Good thing the teacher brought snacks and a friend to chat with for almost 3 hours!

The teacher and the school are trying to come up with something that would sound dignified for all those involved. This is important in a settlement, especially for the party that needs to save face the most (that’s what settlements are all about).

But I say,

No matter how much lipstick you put on a pig…

How much rouge you put on a corpse…

Pigs will always be pigs. However, death with some make-up can make it seem more pleasant for onlookers…but, it’s still…dead.

Both sides will translate something into English and then have to agree on a translation. So, there is, yet ANOTHER court date: April 15th.

Anyway, **!!! I heard that the teacher is double-checking her email list. If you have updated your email recently and / or as a supporting parent / student / teacher are interested in being included on the teacher’s updated list of supporting parent / student / teachers, don’t hesitate to be included!!

How?

You can send your email address here whenever you write a comment (you can just write a short comment, that I won’t post if you don’t want). Your email will be anonymous to the public, but I can see it. I will pass it on to her! I’m sure she is smart enough to BCC you in mass emails.So, I wonder if this has been meaningful to the teacher? Was the whole process the thing that was meaningful–3.5 years of dealing with these people/multi-celled organisms? Or does it all come down to one final moment, one settlement, one piece of paper?

In the words of LL Cool J: “Don’t call it a comeback, I’ve been here for years.”

The latest goings on

stmaryslabordispute — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:55:06 +0000

Without giving too much away, let me just say that there will be another court date on April 7, between the teacher and the school to discuss “thangz”.

Unfortunately, because this was held in a stuffy tiny room, there won’t be space enough for any of us onlookers. But rest assured, I will find out some way, some how and let you know how things are going down.

However this ends, if it ends, it needs to be done in a meaningful way. I’m sure the teacher wouldn’t have it any other way.

Correction

stmaryslabordispute — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 13:15:42 +0000

Friday, March 26 at 15:45, on the 13th floor, in “bu” 19…. the case could end!

But probably not. Apparently, the judge has asked the 2 sides to make some kind of out-of-court settlement before he hands down a decision. This is the second time the judge has made such a recommendation. The first time, the school opted not to settle and submit evidence instead [don't know why they didn't just submit evidence pro-actively to begin with 1 year into the court case. Perhaps they were waiting for the teacher's visa to expire?--Then they wouldn't have to do any work. But strangely enough, she still seems to haunt them in Japan!]. The evidence consisted of 27 character references for the Assistant Vice Principal, which did not mention the teacher at all. And negative letters by people who had all written positive things 3 years before.

The teacher looks forward to:
1. Hearing out just, out-of-court negotiation ideas from the school (won’t happen)
2. Appealing this case to the next level (either by the school or by the teacher), which could take another year or two. But the good thing about that would be the essence of the case would be further distilled…
The next level is High Court, which has 3 judges, who attend court sessions together. This is also open to the public.

The teacher is happy to be going through the process. Every level it goes, the more interesting it gets. And, she figures, the fresher the memory of the necessity to treat people fairly will stay within the school. This is a classic case. Professor Rory O’Day from the University of Waterloo, Canada wrote almost exactlyabout this case in 1974. I recommend his following article to all international school teachers and all students who want change in an organization (here is an excerpt):

“In the discussion that follows, I will be concerned primarily with the reformer who emerges from the lower hierarchy in an organization and challenges the middle hierarchy. A reformer threatens middle management in three distinctly different ways.

The first threat is a function of the validity of [her] accusations about the inadequacy of specific actions of middle-level members and [her] suggestions for correcting them. If the reformer is correct, those in the middle will fear that those at the top will punish them when they discover the truth. [The teacher in this case had:
1. pointed out that middle management should provide basic support for new teachers in the form of a guidebook
2. middle management recruited another middle manager and resorted to putting her in closed meetings with them to, as she feels, bully her goon-style, when she had pointed out #1. And then, since the teacher pointed THAT out, it snowballed from there until the point of her expulsion].

The second threat comes from the moral challenge presented by such a reformer, for [her] demand for action will reveal the strength or weakness of middle management’ commitment to the organization.

And thirdly, the reformer’s challenge may indicate to the people at the top that middle management is unable to maintain order in its own jurisdiction. To protect their interests, middle-level bureaucrats therefore feel their only defense against reform-minded subordinates is intimidation.”

O’Day, Rory. (1974). Intimidation Rituals: Reactions to Reform.
Journal of Applied Behavioural Science.

pp. 373-386.

Retrieved from: http://jab.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/10/3/373

The Teacher’s Testimony

stmaryslabordispute — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:06:42 +0000

This was the big day!

The Assistant Vice Principal, Curriculum Coordinator and the Business Manager were in attendance.

The Business Manager testified first and honestly, that he had very little to do with this case, knew of little, could only assume that certain things happened and was not sure about things. It was curious indeed why the school put this man on the witness stand. Why would he stick his neck out for these administrators? Guess it’s his job…he did not look terribly excited about the whole process. As for the other two, they seemed to wear the grimace of consternation. Or swallowed poison? Or just general gene pool issues from way back?

Yuks aside, it is strange to see an administration made up of a bunch of men, who are depending on, basically, the one testimony of the Curriculum Coordinator. Although she was somewhat involved, she wasn’t as much involved as the Assistant Vice Principal, who isn’t even testifying! What about the Brothers? Is the CC some kind of workhorse for these men? Do they make her constantly go into the trenches for them? Why does she do it? (Well, the answer at the school quite likely is: the salary).

The school’s lawyer asked the teacher nothing about her classroom. Shock? After all these months of going on and on about how kids twirled pencils and put their heads on their desks and dared clap and cheer noisily during a math game etc. Not a question about her classroom. Smart? Well, the school had never documented a single objective complaint about or wrongdoing by the teacher. Their past strategy was to barrage the court with a million tiny points (mentioned above) hoping one of them would stick. Or, ask some teachers in the elementary school 3 years after the fact, to trash talk the teacher. (Too bad they got dates wrong; had never actually witnessed the teacher teach and boasted about going through the teacher’s garbage). Too Salem, Massachusetts 1692. They got 2 moms to write mean things about the teacher (too bad the moms had previously written really nice things about the teacher on exactly the same points; too bad their sons’ futures hang in the balance at the school). Too Maoist-denunciation. They got the Elementary Guidance Counselor to express shock at the teacher’s nuts students (too bad she happened to say that they were nuts when she–not the teacher–was teaching them–doesn’t that reflect on her? Or perhaps this is her willingness to go up to bat for the administration? Life and work in Japan for someone with her qualifications is a luck-out job indeed. Hang on to it honey!! Also, she had written something sweet and contradictory 3 years ago). The strategy here was: if several people tell similar stories, it must be true. And this could have possibly worked in court if the teacher did not have proof that these same people wrote different things way back. Lessons learned?
1. Back up your computer!
2. Be nice to people!
3. Actually do a good job at something!
4. Court is like the book Rashomon, until someone actually has evidence.

ANYWAY, the school has one peg leg left to stand on, we guessed, and they had to whittle it down to a fine pointy point! The lawyer focused on a point that he hoped would surely qualify the teacher to the dust bin:

On the one-year contract that the teacher (and every teacher) signed, there are 4 criteria for renewal:

４ renewal criteria (契約更新の基準):

1. Teacher’s work records and attitude（教師の仕事を記録し、態度）
2. Teacher’s aptitude (教師の適性)
3. School’s operational standing (学校の財政的実行可能)
4. School’s curriculum (学校のカリキュラム)

They tried really hard to get her on the “attitude”. Since:
1. Work records were not recorded as being bad by the school
2. The teacher is licensed and was qualified enough to hire and even renew after her first year
3. The school is not broke (?)
4. The school did not eliminate the 3rd grade or other things which she is qualified to teach.

They grilled her on an email she had written to the Curriculum Coordinator in March (?) April (?) 2007. The teacher had called in a government mediator to find a solution to what she felt was Power Harassment. The mediator told both sides to stop all contact until after the mediation period. But the Curriculum Coordinator would say an “unnatural” Hello to the teacher in front of others as if nothing was amiss at the school. (Imagine Kim Jung Il saying “What’s up?” to you at 7-11). The teacher wrote that during a staff meeting, the CC greeted her this way and would not give the teacher a paper handout until the teacher responded. She emailed the CC and asked her to stop these weird Hellos and allow for the mediation to finish.

If Hellos could be nuclear missiles….

Anyway, the lawyer tried to get the teacher to say that she did not want to greet Her Majesty CC. If the teacher said “no”, this might construe her as “rude” and possibly give grounds for #1: bad attitude, which = FIRED! The teacher testified that she acknowledged the CC in other ways, like giving a slight bow. How Japanese.

Believe it or not, that was kind of it. The teacher was often just “yes” or “no”ing things..maybe she’ll complain and then I’ll write more…

The school’s lawyer asked her a bunch of questions about her apartment and why she is continuing to pay the owner and not the school. Many court documents indicate that she should be paying the school. She said that since the apartment and the employment case were closely linked, she didn’t act on these documents on her own and instead deferred to her lawyer who would surely know what to do. Her lawyer pointed out that her apartment contract was never with the school. And the school, although they claimed to contract the apartment exclusively with the owner, were not the ones who paid the first 2 years of rent or 1,000,000 yen of key money and thank you money. The teacher paid it. So, the school needed to explain that.

PS: I hope to obtain a copy of the statement that the teacher wrote against the school. It is 17 pages, detailing all kinds of garbage. I will erase all the names, but you’ll have good imaginations, I’m sure.

PPS: If you are a student reading this: Awesome! This would have been a proper field trip. Notice how the CC and the Assistant Vice-Principal were absent on Wednesday??

Hopefully, this opens up the possibility that there are some people who look, talk, act and have jobs like adults, but they are nothing more than the yard apes you remember from recesses gone wrong. But, no matter who it is, address them. Make sure they know through and through who you are. You may win or you may lose, but they will remember they have been in a fight with you.

Last minute thoughts

stmaryslabordispute — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 01:03:11 +0000

Last minute room change: courtroom 603, not 606.

The teacher is excited about testifying in court! This fantastic opportunity is a testament to a strong judicial system in Japan that allows any individual to have their day (or 2 years) in court with anybody.

Many people around the world fight to the death for such an opportunity over much worse circumstances. This whole case can be classified under “administrative skirmish” in comparison. It would be a waste and an insult to the justice seekers in the world NOT to solve problems when civilized means are at hand. So, the teacher is very happy about this opportunity.

She wishes her former students could take a field trip today! That would be REAL education!

Stay tuned. I’ll take notes as she talks. Also, the school’s Business Manager will testify.

Review of a School-side Testimony

stmaryslabordispute — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:14:01 +0000

The teacher sends her thanks to those who attended. The Curriculum Coordinator testified.

The teacher’s lawyer asked the Curriculum Coordinator many things and she said many things, careful not to perjure herself, but the teacher was avidly taking notes next to her lawyer. I guess we will know the results of that later.

Where do I start? I guess the highlight of the testimony was this: the lawyer asked why, if the teacher was deemed so unfit in her first year of teaching, would the school not fire her or at least change her position. The school’s witness explained that they were an honorable school and honored the 2 years they said they would hire her. Earlier, the witness explained that hiring an overseas teacher was really expensive for the school. So 2 years it was. (But that didn’t explain why the teacher was kept at exactly the same homeroom).

Of all things that were said, based on the school’s logic, this made me want to demand a refund for the students of the teacher’s 2nd year class. So: are there incompetent teachers at the school right now who need to go, but are staying on because the school wants to save some money?? How much in debt is the school to compromise on something so important?? Or…was the teacher kept on for a full second year because there really was no problem despite the admin’s claims and they wanted to dispose of her (because she was annoying them) after they broke even? It seems either the families/students are getting shafted or the teachers. (But, rest easy teachers, just name drop this case and consider yourselves safe). Parents: if the school is in debt, which is probable from having built the new site…get to know the compromises that are being made to cut corners. It might seem like just a year or two of your son’s life, but it is a YEAR or TWO of your son’s life! Every moment of good education counts!

There seemed to be no time for the the Business Manager’s testimony. Next one is the teacher herself on March 3rd at 1:30pm in the courtroom on the 6th floor, Room 606.

Testimonies! (Room # Correction)

stmaryslabordispute — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:12:18 +0000

The testimony phase of the court case will happen on the following dates. ANYONE from the public is welcome to watch!

St. Mary’s Business Manager and the school’s Curriculum Coordinator will testify on:
Wednesday, February 10, from 14:50 to 17:00. Room 606.

The teacher will testify on:
Wednesday, March 3, from 13:30 to 16:30. Also Room 606.

Note, the Elementary Assistant Vice-Principal will NOT be testifying–which seems to be a smart move on the school’s part, since he seems to have “done enough” for this case, (ahem). Furthermore, it would be more difficult to corroborate stories with more than one person telling it. (From reading the school’s last submission of documents, that seems to be a bit of an issue…)

The Curriculum Coordinator is the only other person from the school’s side who has seen the teacher teach. Perhaps there is school-side hope that this administrator’s words, her history as a teacher (and with the stunning 2 math books she pulled out of the trash in June 2007 and has kept mausoleum-fresh in her home since) will convince the judge that the teacher is the worst she has ever seen.

The teacher is choosing which outfits to wear (among other things, of course!).

Kasumigaseki Station (Chiyoda Line and Marunouchi Line); Exit A1; ROOM NUMBER: 620

At the Tokyo District Court (Civil Court) in this building:
“Tokyo koutou tihou kanni saibannsho goutou chiyousha” = 東京　高等地方　簡易裁判所合同庁舎



December 2009 Update

stmaryslabordispute — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 11:17:50 +0000

Click Here for an Update!