Teaching English in Japan episode 51: Interac English dispatch ALTs are on strike?!

Oooh drama!
I see boss EVERYWHERE 😅

I think everyone should earn a living wage no matter what they do

YES as costs of the area rise so should the pay that is only good for the economy to do this

I love Boss coffee drink all the time. I am one of the people on hold right now with Interac so I will keep my ear to the ground about this. Still plan on moving to Japan though. It’s an opportunity in life I can’t pass up.

It seems to be a matter of supply and demand, if they have trouble finding workers they will pay more. If there is a surplus of workers they will pay less. I'm guessing that there are many candidates who want to teach English in Japan so the pay won't be very great.

What that shows me is that after a year I have to look for better options. I'm still waiting to get into the country. Watching one of your videos opened my eyes that there are other opportunities. I read the Tozen disputes and it worries me because I plan to stay in Japan longer. I want a family over in Japan so Full time is something I'm looking for.

If I remember correctly, you actually get paid more to live in the countryside. So you actually make hundreds less if you live in Tokyo!

Meanwhile in Canada; to get an eye surgery, it costs 5k. Nothing exaggerated. Plain simple truth.

Those unions are useless! The ALTs will accomplish nothing by going on strike!

DON'T DIVIDE LABOR! Everyone deserves a living wage. Retail, service and fast food sees a high percentage of exploitive practices and abuse. In my own experience, my raise was met with NYS increasing it's minimum wage; I also had 2 years of experience and was a shift supervisor... my new $10 was the same as the new guy's starting pay. If "burger-flipping wages" are the low-end, then that justifies everyone getting an appropriate boost.

I was an ALT with Interac for 3 years, too.

Where I was the pay was basic, but good. I don't have many medical costs, but I also come from a background of poverty. If you're not in crippling pain or oozing blood from where it shouldn't be coming out, you don't go to the doctor.

The BIGGEST thing they've done for me was step in when I was being bullied(!) by a student. They stepped in and put an end to it very quickly. Things got better at school.

Where the ball was dropped was when I first moved in. Interac may bear some of the initial move in costs with the expectation of reimbursement - part of the reason why they want you to come with about $5,000 US when you start. After you move in, you're supposed to get a letter and an email explaining how you pay them back. I never got mine. I check my email religiously and I wasn't getting much mail, except for letters from Interac. One of the admins contacted me at the end of summer vacation. They allowed me to pay it back over a number of months, but I was planning to stay only for one year at that point, so I wanted to pay it back ASAP. This meant MONTHS of calculating every single expense: This much is coming in; electric is that much; water is that much; I can only spend 2500 yen on groceries for these two weeks if I guy gas today....

Even after this was resolved, I never quite had the "padding" to take a hit. Calculating how to buy a plane ticket home and McGuivering a budget to pay for any unexpected expenses in the last few weeks was a chore. In the end, I came home with less than $2,000 US, which was quickly eaten by fees as I readjusted to American life - and now my final paycheck is later than I was told it would be without any timeline or explanation as to why. I suppose, if you're wealthy Interac might not be so bad, but if you need to work for a living, you're SOL.

I mean, if you're working full time and they're just not marking your time, than no, they should pay your insurance. thats why even in the us, they wont go over that time. sounds like they're just asking the company to follow the laws.

LMFAO. ALTs/AETs are just a spoke in a wheel to make these rip-off dispatching companies RICH as hell AT YOUR EXPENSE - But, of course, most Engrish teachers I worked with in J-land were too stupid to realize how dumb they were, so they CONTINUE work for wages LOWER than a bus boy in a restaurant here in Arizona. Btw, they’re NOT gonna raise your “lower than a bus boy” wages. NOPE. Not gonna happen.