BEGUNTO - The Berlitz General Union Tokyo

Check out this Japan Times story for information on the government's new policy regarding visa renewal and health insurance.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20090728zg.html

Q. Is it ethical to change the dress code based on the premise of improving the high quality of service by consistently and uniformly reinforcing the company’s premium image.

A. No. Not when the premise is based on opinion and not facts.
The fact is, management has consistently tried to change the Berlitz image from the premier and more elite language learning center status in order to expand the market base away from the elite/serious learner.

Begunto Members,

Management has put together another irritant in the path of the employees. We as the union should not take the bait. The union should focus its energy on bigger events to come in the future. If Berlitz and Benesse want to discomfort their clients who come in at the weekend for a casual educational environment, then we should give Berlitz/Benesse their wish.
And if by obliging management their sales go down it's not the union's fault. It's management's, with their amazing marketing ideas.

This story can also be found in The Tokyo, The Chunichi(Nagoya),
The Fukui, The Kobe, The Gifu and The Chugoku(Hiroshima,Yamaguchi, Shiman & Okayama Pefectures) and in The Sanyo Shinbun, a local newspaper in Okayama Prefecture, Home of Benesse HQ.

Interestingly enough, a Berltz ad banner can sometimes be seen to the right of this article in the Kyoto times.

http://www.sanyo.oni.co.jp/newsk/2009/07/05/20090705010003161.html

Q.　　Is it ethical for management to unilaterally change the dress code when the change will most likely cause an increased financial burden on many employees?

A. No. Not when lesson counts have dropped substantially due to the global economic slowdown and employee income and benefits such as enrollment in the pension plan and shakai hoken are decreasing.

Q. Is it ethical to enforce a dress code written for another era?

Berlitz management pondered long and hard and discovered the cause of the economic slowdown: too much casual cotton, and not enough suits and ties!
Ignoring the trend in Japanese society toward cool biz and casual Fridays, Berlitz has decided to eliminate the traditional Saturday casual dress code, and hopes to attract more students by mandating suits and ties seven days a week. This, on top of taking health insurance and pension benefits away from teachers, is how the company is dealing with the economic crisis.

The Benesse Group Health Insurance Society removed a few more Berlitz teachers from the ranks of the insured this month.
With lesson numbers declining, Berlitz and parent company Benesse are passing the bulk of the pain onto teachers, who not only take a direct hit on income when lessons decrease, but can also lose health and pension benefits.

Begunto received a message of support and solidarity from teachers at Berlitz Germany, who voted on the following resolution at a meeting in March 2009 attended by representatives from 24 schools in Germany. Begunto extends its sincere thanks to our colleagues abroad for their support in our struggle to defend the rights of employees at Berlitz Japan.

(Text of Declaration of Solidarity)
“The Central Works Council (Gesamtbetriebsrat Deutschland) of the Berlitz School of Languages Germany, considering:

The Japan Times carried a follow-up article on the Berlitz strike in their Tuesday, April 28, edition, including comments from experts on labour law noting the lack of legal precedent for the Berlitz suit against the union.
Follow the link to read more:
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20090428zg.html