Nova Resurrection or Night Of The Living Dead?

With Nova corporation under the care of court receivership, its appointed administrators have reportedly been in negotiations with three corporations willing to take over part or all of Novas operations. One company in Tokyo, and two in Kansai are reportedly willing to cover Nova’s debts, back pay to teachers and staff, and a return to operations under a new banner and clean house.

Hurray! We’re saved! some out of work, teachers, and staff may be ready to proclaim. Well, before we send up the balloons, and start the celebrations, let’s look at what is on the table. It has been reported, but not confirmed, that the prime candidate for the privilege of picking the juicy pieces of the Nova carcass, will open currently shuttered profitable schools in lots of 20 or so at a time. That is not very many. The final goal will be to have about half or so of Nova’s former network of schools across the country reopen eventually under a new name. Teachers that wish to continue with the new company will be offered new contracts, and payment of back wages. The contents of the new contracts has not been revealed. Relocation to another part of the country may also be a requirement. Students formerly with Nova and who have prepaid lessons and are owed rebates from Nova will be offered the chance to continue lessons with the new entity.

If schools are re-opened in small increments based on profitability, or other factors, what will this mean for the teachers who are not re-hired? Well apparently they will be given the option of leaving , and have to seek new jobs, or go home. They will be forced to pursue back wages owed them through the government wage guarantee program which covers about 80% of unpaid back wages. They will also have the option of seeking unemployment benefits. Since schools may be reopened in small steps this will obviously leave the majority of the thousands of laid off teachers in a time warp-like limbo wondering if they will be chosen to go with the new company, and under what conditions? More wondering, and waiting for the phone to ring.

Students with prepaid lessons that Nova owes them for will most likely have to travel to a distant inconvenient location to receive their classes, or be told to lump it, while they too wait to see if the school they used to go over by their station will ever reopen. Other English conversation schools are already jumping in with the offer to cover Nova’s points presently held by students.

Many may rightfully wonder if the new owners will be any better than the last. Will they just dust off the furniture, and print newer copies of the same old contracts that caused so much customer dissatisfaction and employee grief in the past? Wait and see is all they are being told. What happens many times in Japan under these sorts of conditions is a makeover: new wall paper is put over the old stained stuff, a new layer of cheap carpeting over the old holes, and everything else stays the same. Everything looks new on the outside but on the inside there’s the same old management style, the same business model, the same illegal labor practices, the same priorities of profit over everything, the same ole, same ole, just with different faces, a new sign, and proclamations of everything new and wonderful again.

With overseas news services and reporters licking their chops at the visual prospects of thousands of angry, hungry, and homeless foreigners picketing, standing in breadlines, arguing with government aid workers, bartering conversation classes for food, getting evicted from their apartments, crying, and even some possibly having to resort to crime to survive, the potential images these agencies will send to parents, friends and relatives back in the home countries is not one Japan would like to foster. That could be the reason a quick takeover prospect is being pushed hard by the powers that be.

Nova in what ever form it is resurrected in, will always represent undesirable and exploitative employment.
Any company that takes over for Nova will be looking to take advantage of a bad situation and reap the benefits of providing temporary employment to non-Japanese without having to provide the long term benefits of employment in Japan, even those benefits supposedly guaranteed by Japanese labor law. Sure there will be lots of empathetic statements at the beginning, ‘Let’s work together to make this a great company!’ but in the end will it be any better than the corpse it inhabits?

Wouldn’t it be better for everybody if the bunny just stays dead?