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Information Session Overview

This overview was pulled directly from comments, and I am posting it here so that everyone can find it easily and comment on it.

Information Session Overview

Saturday, November 10th @ 10:00am

The primary speakers (apologies for spelling errors of names):

1) A trustee
2) Mr. Inayoshi
3) Mr. Ono
4) Government representatives

Where: MM Center in Osaka (two floors), Tokyo Head Office and 24 Branches Across Japan

Time: A little after 10am. There was a small delay since some people couldn't get into the buildings, but negotiations had been made with landlords to use those premises despite the rent not having been paid as of the meeting date.

Available Hand-Outs: Reimbursement for Travel Slip of Paper, Resignation Request, Questionnaire, Request for Employment, Reimbursement of Unpaid Wages Information (4-pages of information), Unemployment Insurance Information (9-pages of information)

1) Trustee's Information (via the translator and then summarized)

Everyone who wants to can continue working in Japan for the new company. The negotiations were handled by a team of six lawyers and about twenty staff members in Tokyo Head Office.

Why did they choose G-Education?

As of October 26th, 2007, there were no sponsors, so they invited sponsors and the result was 12 interested parties. There were three main criteria when evaluating the interested parties:

a) Employment should be offered to EVERY employee which included staff, instructors and supervisors

b) Students needed to be protected. Not one sponsor offered to refund students, however, there were offers that included the waiving of entrance fees, a ten percent discount, a fifty percent discount over a six month period, etc. G-Education, however, offered to provide Nova students the use of ALL their tickets at a cost of 25% of the value of those tickets.

c) They wanted to continue the operation of the company across the country and not split it up.

On November 6th, 2007, they reached an agreement and applied for court approval. As of the meeting date, negotiations were ongoing with regards to details and they are making every effort to continue business as smoothly as possible. This business includes branches, Multimedia Center and Nova Kids.

There have been some recent news stories regarding the Ginganet shares and the problems have been resolved. The basic result is that the Ginganet will continue to be used by the Multimedia Center to teach students.

Currently, all branches remain closed for a few reasons. First, there have been numerous complaints from landlords due to the unpaid rent and each landlord will need to be spoken to on an individual-basis. Initially, this will include thirty branches, but will gradually expand to two-hundred. As for the Multimedia Center, this will open as soon as possible. In addition, G-Education wants to re-open branches so that there will be no student complaints about being unable to book lessons, so they need to make sure staffing needs are met for each location.

The trustee mentioned receiving numerous phone calls from staff and students regarding the situation and it has prevented him from doing his job. He reiterated many times over that ALL people will be offered the opportunity to continue working and the conditions offered will be the SAME as they were with Nova. There are concerns about the expiry of instructor contracts and with social insurance benefits, but they hope to resolve these once people start working for the new company. (Note: The trustee mentioned shakai hoken specifically, but the translator generalized this as social insurance).

People who wish to be employed with G-Education must submit a Resignation Request form, Request for Employment Form and Questionnaire. G-Education will conduct short interviews with everyone, however, after spending a lot of time the previous day with staff it was deemed too long and there were too many people attending the morning meeting. Questions that need to be answered are basically where people currently are located (where they worked when Nova's operations ceased), what their responsibilities were at that time, where people are living (for example, Nova accommodation) and whether or not they are interested in working for G-Education. People will be hired unless they have another employer and each individual will be contacted by telephone. In addition, in order to work for G-Education, people must resign from Nova.

It is also very important to note that G-Education will evaluated "desperate situations" on an individual basis and during each telephone interview will evaluate each person's needs. This could include payment daily or weekly, etc. DISCUSS YOUR PERSONAL FINANCIAL SITUATION WITH THE G-EDUCATION REPRESENTATIVE THAT CONTACTS YOU AND INDICATE WHAT YOU NEED IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING DIFFICULTIES AND PLAN TO WORK FOR THE COMPANY. As soon as people start to work for G-Education they will begin to earn their full salary (more to come below under "Question and Answer").

For those who do NOT wish to work for G-Education will receive ONE MONTH NOTICE and you will be eligible for unemployment insurance. It goes without saying that those who work for G-Education will NOT be eligible for unemployment insurance.

With regards to unpaid wages, these will be reimbursed through the government only. THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND WELFARE HAS PLEDGED HIS FULL COOPERATION - ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEES WILL DEFINITELY RECEIVE THE 80% REIMBURSEMENT OF UNPAID WAGES. More information is detailed below.

2) Mr. Inayoshi

They intend to do all they can to help, but it is difficult for the company as well. They have to guarantee ALL salaries, but not one branch is open.

He mentioned the following in a joking manner - Who is he? He just buys companies? He confirmed that yes, the organization has purchased companies and their goals are simple - they want to rise to the challenge of rebuilding Nova.

He indicated that many things will need to change. It is impossible to open 900 branches and maintain a large head office. He referenced Toyota has a comparison to the head office maintained at Nova and said this will need to be reduced/eliminated. He did not indicate which specific jobs this impacted. In addition, the company can't open the thirty branches now because there are problems with the landlords, they don't have the keys for the branches and they are unaware of actual staff/instructor numbers. In the end, when they open branches it will be with a "strong financial basis".

The conditions at G-Education will NOT worsen per Mr. Inoyoshi, and they will remain the same as before, but there may be a slight increase in commuting time only. (There was a translation error here as the translator indicated that "work time" may increase, but this was clarified as an error. If you hear the work time will increase do NOT take this as fact as this was not confirmed by Mr. Inayoshi and corrected by the translator.)

Mr. Inayoshi (per translator): "Let's enjoy working together from now on"

3) Mr. Ono

G-Education has 880 juku schools and many of their teachers and students attend both their juku schools and Nova. In fact, Mr. Ono indicated that two of his three children attended Nova Kids and really liked their instructor there.

The company has received a lot of pressure from customers who indicated that the service levels were good, the teachers were good and that students wanted branches opened as soon as possible. Mr. Ono indicated that they do want to make things as they were before due to this feedback.

Mr. Ono indicated that they are expecting angry students at branches so they need to be thoroughly prepared for this when they re-open the branches and they need to better than they were before. In other words, they aim to make the new Nova better than the old Nova. To do this, they need employee support and cooperation. In exchange, they are offering the same work conditions employees currently have and will maintain positions of responsibility (ex. TI's or AT's, etc.).

Question and Answer Period

(Note: Not all questions are noted here. If you recall information that was mentioned at the information sessions please add the details.)

a) G-Education will pay 100% of employee salaries even if the branch is not yet open provided that the individuals are indeed employees.

b) People should get paid at the end of the month unless they have a job somewhere else.

c) ALL language instructors, regardless of language, are being re-employment.

d) G-Education will negotiate with landlords of buildings and apartments they wish to keep. For those they don't, instructors will be asked to move, but instructors can request assistance with moving costs. (If this is applicable to your situation, please discuss this with the G-Education representative who will be contacting you shortly if you were at the meeting and submitted the appropriate forms)

4) Government Representatives

(Note: This is where the translations became choppy and at times not understandable due to contradictions. This information is summarized via the paperwork provided.)

Unpaid Wages

Contact Information:
Japan Labour Health and Welfare Organization
Wages and Assistance Department
Consultation Office for Replacement Payment
Solid Square East Bldg.
580 Horikawa-cho, Saiwai-ku
Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa 212-0013
Phone: 044-556-9881
URL: http://www.rofuku.go.jp

Summary: Until Nova applies for bankruptcy officially people can't receive reimbursement. Once the trustees file the appropriate documents all employees who resigned or continue to work for the company will receive 80% of their unpaid wages. IF WAGES ARE 20,000 YEN OR LESS, NO PAYMENT WILL BE ISSUED. All employees who resigned within a six month period prior to the bankruptcy and didn't receive payment will be eligible to a ceiling cap. In addition, they will need to complete paperwork that will be mailed to each person (so make sure they have your current address) and these people will continue to be eligible for a total of 1.5 years after bankruptcy, so be sure to apply before this point.

The ceiling caps are as follows (based on age as of the date of "retirement" which could mean October 26th or the date of bankruptcy - if you changed brackets during this time contact the office directly).

a) Individuals aged 45+ have a ceiling of unpaid wages of 3,700,000yen and the replacement payment is capped at 2,960,000 yen

b) Individuals between 30 and 44 have a ceiling of unpaid wages of 2,200,000yen and the replacement payment is capped at 1,760,000yen

c) Individuals under 30 have a ceiling of unpaid wages of 1,100,000yen and the replacement payment is capped at 880,000yen

Please note that unpaid wages is limited to the periodic wages and the retirement allowance (if you received a retirement allowance from Nova, please contact the government agency directly for details). Company housing fees, purchase cost of goods from the company, repayment for a loan and "others" (including travel reimbursement) are EXCLUDED from unpaid wages. If you have any questions regarding the amount owing to you, contact the government agency directly.

Unemployment Insurance

Summary (Pages 3-4 of hand-out):

The objective is to support those seeking re-employment. Those who are unable to work immediately due to illness, injury, pregnancy, childbirth, childcare, etc. are NOT eligible. The person must be in a state of unemployment and available to take up a job at any time. In addition, because Nova went bankrupt, people must have worked for the company for a minimum of six months (of which one month has at least 11 days employed).

Payment of benefits: People under 45 are eligible for 90 days of payments unless they worked there for more than five years. People between 45 and 59 are eligible for unemployment for 90 days unless they worked there for more than a year, then they are eligible for 180 days. Payments range from between 50-80% and is limited to 7775yen per day. For more information locate your local Hello Work office.

Summary (Pages 6-7, 9):

To Those Who Have Left Nova...

Apply to Osaka Employment Service Center for Foreigners (below or to the one closest to you)

Address: Osaka-Ekimae Second Bldg, 15F, 1-2-2, Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi
Nearest Station: JR Kita-shinchi station, 1 minute on foot / JR Osaka Station, 12 minutes on foot
Business Hours: 10:00-17:00 Monday through Friday, except National Holidays
http://osaka-rodo-go.jp/hw/gaisen

Necessary Documents:

1. Separation Notice (two parts)
2. Certificate of the insured - employment insurance
3. Alien Registration Card
4. Recent photographs (2-copies): 3cm in lengthx2.5cm in width from the waist up photo with full face
5. Ordinary bank account book in your name. Internet bank and foreign financial institution accounts are NOT acceptable.

For those who have left their jobs following two or more months in succession when their wages have not been made on the payment due date, bring all the above AND...
6. Notice of Employment
7. The bank account book which the wages have been paid into.

Page 7 of the hand-out includes a map to the Osaka Employment Service Center for Foreigners. This includes the following contact information:

Address: 530-0001, 1-2-2 Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka, OSaka Ekimae Daini-Bldg 15th Floor
Tel: 06-6344-1135
Fax: 06-6344-1134
Email:
URL: http://osaka-rodo.go.jp/hw/gaisen
Hours: 10:00-17:00 Monday to Friday excluding National Holidays
Access: Umeda (Midosuji Line), HigashiUmeda (Tanimachi Line), NishiUmeda (Yotsubashi Line), Osaka Station (JR), Kitashinchi (Tozai Line), Umeda (Hankyu/Hanshin)

Page 9 requested that you contact the Osaka Regional Immigration Bureau for "status of residence" and included a map. This would be important for those who are concerned about working visa limitations, etc.

The contact information:
Osaka Second Legal Affairs Joint Government Bldg. 5F, 2-1-17 Tani-machi, Chuo-ku, Osaka City, Osaka
Tel: 06-6941-0771

(Note: There were times when it was difficult to hear due to noise level and sound problems. If you were present at an Information Session and have information to add, please mention it. The author apologizes for any repetition and wishes it could be more brief, however, there are a lot of misconceptions out there and this should help clarify many of those.)

Japan: 
employment
nova

Comments

thanks for posting this info Shawn. Accurate and useful as usual.

Sorry, small spelling correction, it's Inayoshi, not Inoyoshi. Just check G communication's website at http://www.g-com.jp/guide/index01.html

I was there today. It was very positive and friendly. I do hope that
the new owners live up to their obligations and promises.

I was at the meeting as well and from what I could tell, they said that Nova has to give its employees 30 days notice when terminating a contract. Because Nova has no money, the government said that this 30 days would be included in the 80 per cent which we will get back. So this means that if we resign now and are not terminated by Nova due to bankruptcy, we do not get the 30 days compensation included from the government. If we wait for Nova to terminate our contracts due to bankruptcy, we technically get more money. Any thoughts?

I give them full points for trying, and I do wish (those of you who are struggling) the best of luck in this endeavour. But please don't rely on this mob to save you!!!

My understanding is that you'll get your 30 days regardless in this case. I was at the meeting as well and Mr. Ono said that there was an error on the resignation form. Instead of reading: "Notice of Resignation" and "Date of resignation" it should have read (something like): "Notice of request for Resignation" and "Requested Date of resignation"; I think this was to avoid the problem you mentioned about resigning now, though I could be wrong. Furthermore, it's dead (no pun intended) certain that NOVA is headed for the legal graveyard. It's only a matter of time.

The trustees indicated (hinted at I thought) a matter of weeks (or less) for this legal declaration of bankruptcy to happen though they didn't give a definite time. Is this the understanding of others?

yea well, they kept saying "You should talk to Nova about those questions" For example: "When will I get paid" (as a laymans example.)
But exactly Who the hell is Nova?? The three remaining board members? (Who were by the way no where in sight today)...

What really happened today, basically at least in the Tokyo area, was that the HELLOWORK and Government people caught all the questions from teachers that should have been answered by "Nova" whoever the hell those faces are. Shit. Today was a bunch of shit, and half of us are still confused as to what to do.

Do I turn in both the resignation from and application? Or do I only turn in my resignation form? But if I only turn in my resignation form then I will only be ünemployed and I wont "get my October and November backpay at all" By the way those are the words of the translator to the G Education staff AFTER the meeting during the "private" interviews. So basically, I think both ways, I will never see my October and November salaries.. EVER.. My October and November salaries "Are Novas responsibilities" they said.. But WHO THE FUCK IS NOVA?

And ontop of that. After many years of being here, Ive learned that the Japanese Embassy in Your Own Country will not help you as a laiason as far as backpay thats owed to you. "Thats Novas responsibility". They say.
So basically, they were wagging the dog today because they can blame everything on a name which is nothing but an empty shell with NO responsibility or owning up to anything....
Shit, the existing students with fucking 400 points cant even use them to full potential with this new company.
So basically, we all have to take this KICK TO THE TEETH and keep moving. Destroy and rebuild. Well after 5 hours and 12 beers its finally starting to sink in. But whats with all the goddamn lawyer jargon bullshit and why cant anyone give us a straight answer? Oh thats right because theyre professionals or gov't workers or lawyers or SOME FUCKING BULLSHIT!! FUCK. This meeting was a waste of 4 HOURS telling me shit that I already know!

Oh and if you dont have anything nice to say to me then SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH. oh and PS FUCK YOU!

oh and also,

"Yea but theyre nice today and it was a warm and friendly vibe" and "Oh theyre trying to do things right and start over and blah fucking blach blah."
Shut the fuck up. Just wait for your phone call so you can start working again dumbshit. Oh and by the way, your vacations for this year were completely blown away the second you turned in that resignation. yea yea FUCK YOU before I even hear your answer.

"It goes without saying that those who work for G-Education will NOT be eligible for unemployment insurance."
Ok, but nobody's employed yet. I signed the "Request for Employment Form". That is not a contract, and somehow I seem to have a problem with trust. So I sure hope they still send the separation documents as I tend to doubt that they'll take everyone in.

My understanding was that you only qualify for the extra 30 days if you don't resign, you're only owed that extra 30 days due to a company needing to give it's employees 30 days notice before terminating a contract, if you resign you don't qualify and do not get an extra month's pay when the government covers wages.

Sorry, I only know what I heard, and I typed everything I wrote down during the meeting for notes. I don't have any answers and can just offer the information as it was presented at 10am at the MM Center Information Session on the 17th Floor (although people were on the 16th floor as well).

If you do have any questions about back wages I'd recommend contacting the government agency referenced above. If you have questions about unemployment I'd recommend contacting Hello Work directly. If you have questions about G-Education I'd recommend contacting G-Education directly (another poster provided the website above).

As far as I see it (and if you see it differently, post away), these are the basic options:
1) Quit Nova immediately and apply for EI (This will reduce how much the government pays you for unpaid wages and you will not get the 30-days notice)
2) Let Nova "terminate" you (This will maximize the pay-out you are eligible for from the government and you are eligible for the 30-days paid at your previous salary, but this would be paid by the government)
3) Submit the forms to work for G-Education (the three provided in the information session) with the intention to work for G-Education. The "resignation request" is NOT an official resignation from what I understand. I understood it as a "promise to resign" when given employment. From the sounds of it they were measuring staffing levels.

(NOTE: Back wages were not given a time period. There were no estimates as to when these back wages would be paid.)

Again, those numbered points are my personal understanding of the situation. Feel free to disagree. I don't have the answers, just the information you all do.

*Sparkle

The real test of whether G-Education are going to be a better, more ethical company than Nova is if they are going to pay Shakai-Hoken. If they refuse to pay Shakai-Hoken under the watchful eyes of the Government, teachers must realise this company like Nova are prepared to evade Japanese labour law.

Thanks for the summary. Yeah those are our options. Good luck to all in what you decide to do. I plan to contact and help out the teachers that I know that are heading home to make sure they can get as much of their back pay as possible. They have up to two years to file. Though we can't start until NOVA is truly declared bankrupted. I hope they do that soon for everyones sake.

Does anyone know anything much about the financials of this company?

How big / cashed up is it?

I am surprised by their "offer" to take on all nova staff and teachers & am wondering about their ability to pay people (potentially while they're not even working), as well as take on the responsibilities for providing accomodation for hundreds (?) of teachers. And all this on just an initial 30 schools with who knows how many (or few) interested students.

I know that the law may be on your side about everyone being on shakai-hoken but what major Ekaiwa company is paying into that? None. Also there were people from the goverment at todays info session and people asked about Shakai-Hoken and they didn't answer one persons question about that at all. G-Communcation isn't NOVA, it sucks but I understand that they would feel no responsiblity to NOVAs crap. If they are truly offering everyone work, hard as it seems then tghen can we fault them for offering people work. It's our choice to make and our responsiblity to check the conditions that we will be putting ourselfes into.

"And neither times were impressive".

Or neither time was impressive. Join me in my hole!

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20071108a2.html
The link above is to an article in the japantimes this past thursday about G communication and its leader.

In reply to JB, some companies in Japan do offer Shakai-Hoken to even foreigners- ECC . Nova itself paid for some instructors on Shakai-Hokken and most of the Japanese staff. They had to legally for all teachers, but extended the 10 minute break to 15 minutes to evade paying. Now is a crucial time to ensure that all teachers who are working should be covered. If they fail to do this when they are working with Government appointed trustees and holding information meetings with people from the ministry of labour it will show they are prepared to break the law and the goverment is colluding with them.

Points from the meeting (as taken from the forms we signed and notes that I took)

* it stated that we would have the same working conditions - a man asked about Shakai Hoken and the Govt said that it was up to G-com whether to pay it.

* direct quote "Even if there is no NOVA school in your desired area of employment and you end up standing by at home, your salaries shall be fully paid" - How long was one question and the answer was that they wanted to open all 200 schools very very quickly.

* G-education (g-com) will pay us from the 10th and the books will be closed on Nov 20th. The salaries will be paid on Nov 30th. Payment after that will be made on the 5th of each month so for their reasons we will have two pay periods for November but it will be paid as one to us. A previous poster talked about the 30 day policy. The 30 day rule is not covered by getting back your pay through the govt system as NOVA has no money. Some people asked about not quiting NOVA but the panel replied "Why do you want to stay with NOVA ? Well Nova has 0 yen - NO MONEY so they have nothing to pay you"

* Since 26th Oct, we are regarded as a "fire employee" so dont worry about not being able to get UI - the situations is clear BUT if you choose the apply for UI - its a 1 month wait.

I think it would be better to let people choose and if a worker wants to be on shakai-hoken then a company should respect that.

As for ECC they don't got Shakai-Hoken, they get you something very close but not it. Thats why they have their "full-time" workers working 29.5 hours a week

Oh I forgot to say that I thought that the meeting went well and the trustees seemed to be trying very hard to get things going faster. The president of G-com seemed very nice and it was good to see that they paid travel money ! Already one up on NOVA....Some negatives were that the govt translators were terrible at times eg: NOVA level three ! and some of the questions people asked from the 2pm meeting in tokyo were useless (the information was on the form), political (in terms of Sahashis arrest/union speeches) and one guy gave a speech about how he was concerned with getting hired because he doesn't know if he's good enough ! so they took time away from people who had better questions.

Aeon also has all its teachers in Shakai Hoken.

I do have one worry !! All instructors will be re-employed - most likely in the same position !!

So part of the problem of Old NOVA was that there were some very bad apples in upper management that caused a lot of pain for instructors for petty reasons eg: a female A.T/trainer and lets say that her name starts with a "C" who ratted on fellow instructors. She caused many people to quit and hate NOVA and she was given special treatment by a certain A.A.M (now R.a.a.m) called "M"

I call for the new NOVA to weed out people like this !! there is a lot of hate going about and it could rise if these people show their faces.

Really Aeon does, didn't know. Thats kinda cool.

You'll be paying the defunct National Pension Plan.
Nothing is free! You still pay for Shakaihoken.(50%)
Help the Japanese Government. HA HA hA!
The Japanese aren't!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am alittle worried given our experience with NOVA especially in its final days. But it seems that Gcomm is doing the best it can. I think they just wanted to impart some info and get a count of everyone. I do think that they do plan to employ everyone. The goverment wants them to so they can clean this "mess" created by NOVAs bankruptcy. Also this company has over 800 cram schools and the company mention at the meeting(not to the press) they may also have instructors placed there too. I think the lack of answers wasn't because they were trying to pull a fast one but because they don't know/or haven't decided yet but want to move as quickly as possible. Thats what they can't make any promices yet. I hope I am not wrong.

Getting information, and I mean meaningful information, is somewhat of a dubious task when it comes to Nova, or whatever the hell you want to call it from now on.

But the best I can come up with from this afternoon's "seminar" is that you have limited choices (as you would expect):

1. Resign now and go on unemployment immediately (speakers mentioning seven days from the date of registration for payment - actual payment date unknown).

2. Resign now and request employment with the new "Nova" (limited chances of corporate success based on student disillusionment and general public wariness meanwhile we're getting paid to stay at home while the company slowly expands from 30 to "approximately" 200 schools). First pay to be received on November 30th (for the period from start date to November 20th). Subsequent pays to be received on the 5th of the following month (ie, next pay date January 5th). Same schedules and pay to be honoured however they may be changed "after due consultations between both parties."

3. Stay an employee of the old Nova and wait for the "if and when" announcement of Nova's bankruptcy (after being questioned I believe it was the trustee who said that it should be done in about two weeks - no guarantees in that lingo although it would add an extra 30 days to your unpaid wages payout).

4. Resign now and start at whatever new job you were lucky enough to find. No unemployment.

As far as unpaid wages go it could take up to 6 months to be finalised and paid (my stepmum is a Japanese lawyer). I hope that the government will expedite that period, but I have no specific hope.

Good luck to us all. To be honest nothing seems a lot clearer than it did a week ago.

And thanks to Shawn for this site.

Perhaps you're right scambot. The gov. should love getting as much money as they can get. I am on shakai-hoken. A good way to check I suppose is to check what kind of conditions the EC ekaiwa teachers have. Does anyone know? Also maybe an interesting forum on letsjapan would be to ask people what kind of insurance they perfer. I bet it has been done before but.....

Thanks for the info.
I already quit and have another job. Is the government going to organise payment or do I have to do all the running around?

From my understanding we can't get our unpaid salaries until NOVA is DONE, truly gone. Then the trustees will make out the paperwork that needs to be filled out. Then we wait as the wheels of the goverment move. They said it should take about 6 months. Make sure Gcomm or NOVA has your current info, keep your account in japan open I suppose and keep in touch with a mate in japan in case something happens. There will be more info from the trustees when they are done with NOVAs bankruptcy process. Nothing can be done until then.

Thanks

Thanks

I'm curious as to whether anybody at the information session knows whether the unpaid wages process is usable by recently resigned instructors WHO HAVE LEFT THE COUNTRY. Does anyone know, and if it is possible, do we use the same forms (if we can somehow obtain them)? I know it says in the article body that paperwork will be sent to one's current address but would that include addresses outside of Japan even if a person were to contact the appropriate offices and give them this contact information? Obviously this is a troubling time for all so hopefully we'll have answers for each other. Good luck everyone.

Here is the actual wording from the "Request for Employment" form so no one is confused, much.

"
1. You shall be hired as an employee without specifying a period of employment and work the time being according to the work area, title,work,form of employment and working conditions as of the time when you left NOVA Corp. (including its affiliates) (November 2007). Your work, form of employment and working conditions may change after due to consultations between both parties.

2. Even if there is no NOVA school in your desired area of employment and you end up standing at home, your salaries shall be fully paid.

3. your monthly income shall correspond to your final monthly income at NOVA Corp. (including its affiliates). With regard to the method and date of payment, the books will be closed on Nov. 20 and your salary will be paid on Nov. 30. From next month, the books will be closed at the end of each month and payment will be made on the fifth of each month.
"

Just my two cents, but I think the Gove must be supporting G.com with the pay so they don't have a bunch of barbarians running around the employment offices and giving an even bigger black-eye to their already glossy human rights record.

Also with that many teachers out and about, it may be cheaper to pay them and not lose 400,000+/- students to private lessons and false hopes of the schools ever openning again.
400,000 students at 250,000円
or
1,500 at 250,000円
WHICH IS CHEAPER?

If they can time it right, they can cut many more instructors that won't take the extended travel or relocations and save more money. Also You don't need to do expensive overseas headhunting with a bad brand.

Any thoughts?

Furthermore, remember, you may have signed the res. form, but the other is just a request.
You are technically unemployed till they call and give you a location, times and actual contract to sign with all the conditions of your new position. There should be nothing stopping you from going to hello work, unless you sign before you get your unemployment papers.

Don't mind the rant, it's late and I'm read to sleep.
night.

(sorry put this on the other thread too), but does this mean each individual who was at Saturday's meeting or each individual who was employed by nova at the time of its demise ?

ECC teachers on 29.5 hour contracts must change to 30 hour contracts to be eligible for Shakai-Hoken, however. ECC only enrolls employees who ask for it--you have a choice.

Friendly reminder: all persons in Japan MUST HAVE either Government Insurance or Social Workers insurance--all other insurances ARE NOT acceptable as your primary insurance per Japanese law!

Shakai-Hoken is definitely the way to go as you be able to get a portion of what you pay into the pension plan with you when you leave--depending on how much you've paid into it, and in some cases transfer it your countries own pension plan. Aside from that, medical and dental are inclusive insurances. The government will pay 70% of your fees!

If you have a child in Japan, you will need either Government Insurance or Social Workers Insurance to receive a substantial reimbursement for child birth.

If you are married or have children, you can add them on to your insurance at NO additional cost--spouses salary must be below 1.5 million yen to qualify, however).

Your employer pays HALF of your fees!

Why wouldn't you want Shakai-Hoken?

I have heard people say that the period of Nov. 21st-30th will be paid on December 5th. Is this correct?

You fucking idiots still haven't realized......................your money is gone! GONE! You are a second class citizen here and your money doesn't mean shit........................they want you to go the fuck back home and stealing your money makes it all that quicker. Sure, for international appearance some stupid, naive bastards will get their money back but..................for 99% of you........................it won't be you!

Look, NOVA is gone and we are foreigners in a foreign country. Fair enough. And people are worried about their VISA status because of this. We have 3 months to find a job after NOVA is declared Truly bankrupted or we must change our VISA status. But by what we were told, former Instructors who have gone through this kind of thing before and by japanese law I think we are entitled. Are you posting this because of your feelings of japan or by some law/fact?

I have talked to an ECC recruiter before and they told me no to Shakai-hoken but pushed some package that was kind of the same. I admit I didn't push the issue to see if they would offer it if I asked hard enough. I am on Shakai-hoken by the way.

But for some/many instructors who come to japan, for their needs and wants they have cheaper/better(point of view) plans when they shopped around verses JMA or shakai-hoken.

I know by law that its required. Just personally I wish that companies would honor peoples request of what kind of issurance they want and all would be happy.

I went to the meeting yesterday but still have a few questions. If anyone has answers please post.

1) There was a question asked "if we resign and request employment from G Comm does that mean we forfeit our rights to UI". The answer was difficult to understand (poor video/audio feed, people talking in the meeting room, translation quality a bit lacking, etc.).

2) Did we have to turn in both the resignation and request for employment forms yesterday? If not, where do we send/fax them in?

3) If we take the "offer" from G Comm and in the near future we do not work for them (their decision, too many teachers or other reasons, or our reasons bad work environment, etc.) are we still eligible for UI from NOVA? Before all the flamers jump on the wagon and b*tch me out, I heard there was a mention of a grace period where we might still be eligible. I think they said it was something one of the representatives from the Osaka govt. said.

Miscellaneous Info on the session:

-the translator for the PM session in Osaka was Anders
-Cheers to G Comm for covering travel expenses with no hassles

Thanks for the help.

Hey, C who ratted people out to M! I know who you're talking about!

Excuse me, sir. In reading your wonderfully well written post with regards to the issuance of back wages through the government, I didn't happen to see any referencing or proof to substantiate your claims. While you may perhaps be correct, would you please expand on the reasoning. Many of us are trying to get the best information possible and like to see opposing thoughts, as long as they demonstrate their truthfulness.

Now my turn:

Naato is delicious you fucking idiots!...... You'd have to be a real stupid asshole not to love naato........... because everyone knows naato is fucking delicious! It's the most goddamned oishi thing any of you have ever put in your fucking mouths!.......If you don't love naato....... it's because you're a fucking idiot and the Japanese government hates you and wants you to die!......So you simpleton moron gaijin who don't love naato....just fucking leave now and admit that naato is your master!

Does anyone know the contact details for G-Com? Fax, phone? The number on the website was Japanese only. I didn't attend the meeting, but I have copies of all the necessary paperwork. Cos I'm a glutton for punishment.

I guess you can call Foreign Personal Tomorrow and get some info. They got to keep in mind that perhaps everyone couldn't have made that meeting yesterday. Everyones got a opinion about working at "new"NOVA or not but don't let other peoples opinion bother you. Do what you need to do but I do agree that you should be proactive and you don't have to be stuck with NOVA.

Just fax or call the orig. Nova foreign personnel phone numbers. They are using them for the time being and that's it.
If you can't fax, take the number to a convenience store near you, they usually have a fax service.

If you were at the meeting you might have gotten the message that they were only bringing back the people that had attended it. That was the reasoning for the forms. But then again, they said that you could hand them in at a later time after you had thought about it. If you can get you hands on them, just fax 'em.

Thanks for the information, guys. They can't expect everyone to have made it to the meeting, given the short notice and lack of communication.
I don't mind going back personally, but I'm looking at other options too. They can't expect the instructors to trust them, but it's a means to an end of getting money and work quickly.

The questions I have:

So many people are worried about "resigning" now, why?

If the new company is possibly going to pay and soon maybe, then I see no reason to hang on for the extra 30 days and potential for 80% of that in a long Long time as was hinted at by the govt officials who apparently have been unaware of the need for proper support for a bunch of english (and non-english/non-japanese) speakers. As if they didn't see Nova sinking and think...hrmmm...maybe we need someone who can actually translate (a paid translator) rather than someone who can just read and knows a few high level words related to her job...I consider her a level6 at best.

Shakai-Hoken...obviously you are not American or you have family you are concerned about.

If you are the latter, please pursue Shakai Hoken!
If you are foreign and receive better rates than Americans at your medical facilities back home, then the former doesn't apply to you.
However, if you are American and whinging about Shakai-Hoken...why?
It is fucking cheap as dirt to get anything in Japan.
The government tries damn hard to lower the price of prescription drugs.
I have had numerous tests, exams, meds, visits, x-rays, CT scans, dental cleanings, tooth extractions,...and so on...
For everything. Total. Over my entire time in Japan. Less than 1,000 dollars (USD).
FUCKING CHEAP.
Using JMA and then JMA's interglobal, I have gotten back 700 dollars. If I wasn't so lazy about the forms for my dental work under my table...I would get back an extra 120 dollars. I should do that since I am broke!
I don't really care what I get for medical insurance. It is still better than anything I have gotten in the states. And, if I have to pay for years I have been in Japan but not been on Shakai-Hoken...I will take out members of the Union one-by-one for yet again failing in the past and then possibly punishing many in the near future should their attempts to "fight for our rights" backfire again.

G-Com...
It blows. I am not pleased that I may lose my month worth of holidays. I am pissed that I have to wait for some 80% of my money from the government. I am not a fucking parasite. I want what I worked for and I want Sahashi to pay 100% of my wages. It is a shame that I have to use this money for Nova's damn foolishness. Yes, I guess that being an American, where sitting on UI or welfare isn't soo easy for younger men has made me a bit reluctant to use the government for my own laziness.
However, G-Com tried.
They could have had a shit translator. They didn't. Sure he made a few mistakes, but the government couldn't even get someone who spoke english semi-fluently. Is it a fear that non-native japanese speakers might not catch the subtle indirect beauty of the language or is it that non-native speakers couldn't possibly even learn such a difficult language.
The president, seemed relaxed and may offer a more relaxed environment for the workers...or maybe might not be soo concerned about a strict dress-code given his lack of a tie and top-button. Not that I want to look like a scum bag, but I would love the chance to work without a tie. Travel distance might be increased. Sucks, but I need the job. Sounded too good to be true at some points...any job at this point sounds too good to be true. What? You mean, you are going to pay me? And I can eat? Pay rent! Oooh... please!
Unless you have something better, give it a chance before you knock it.
How many times have you tried new things in your life without bitching about it?

Longer than I anticipated.
Sorry and thanks if you read through all this.

The General Union and ECC have signed a historic collective agreement over Shakai Hoken (Health and Pension) on 28th July 2006. ECC will enroll any 29.5 hour contract instructors who wishes to be enrolled on Shakai Hoken from October 1, 2006. Instructors who wish to be enrolled will have to work 30 hours or more per week.
ECC will be placing notices in all ECC schools over the next few weeks. For more details contact the General Union on 06-6352-9619 or email

I have insurance and so do teachers who were hired a few months ago, I've spoken to. We have insurance.

It is great that we can choose, but the choice shouldn't be ours to make, as it is the LAW to have either A or B--and option A (Shakai Hoken) is the cheapest one in the long run to employees.

I am sure there are many people who could not go to the meetings yesterday. Many people were not told about them. Many people did not find the little addition to a previous post, well hidden at the bottom of the page on the Nova site. Some ,I guess are regretting not going along after they found out about the "being paid for standby bit"Some were surfin'. Whatever the reason a lot of folks are a bit confused. There is no G-Com website we can check out for info regarding re-employment and how we get the parerwork.(to my knowledge)Our area ended up with no AAM. Our AT left early on.If there is some kind titled instructor in the know, could you please enlighten us thickies.

^ It seems a little odd that many people didn't hear about these meetings. I know the branches I've worked in everyone is in touch and "in the loop", and supporting each other. I heard about this from the local RAAM, who asked me to pass it on to others. By the time I'd passed it on, everyone just said "Yeah, duh. We know already." Except that one guy who didn't know what day it was (you know who you are! heh heh).
So, Not C, I'm not sure what you are expecting from your TIs there, but by the sounds of it you don't have any. And remember - they're being paid the same as you. Nil.
However, I definitely agree that the announcement on the website was poorly located. They should have had something bigger and more important-looking. Try calling foreign personnel and getting the forms faxed maybe? You can still mail them in later.

I also wasn't able to attend the meeting. Since, I found out about this less then 24 hours of the meeting day and time, I couldn't go because I had private lessons planned for my electric and gas bills. How can we get the forms?

Sun, 11/11/2007 - 15:32 — Ken (not verified)

In a Wednesday interview with the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inayoshi said that he plans to have 200 of the schools running within 2 years and that he'd like to see all 3,500 instructors join G.communications, either at Nova locations or at their other schools.

the meeting was a long pain in the arse either way..they say we all get our jobs..but i dont wanna go back to work with my snake AT, and the miserable old veteran, and the anal-retentive AAM..and i dont wanna disappoint this guy who gave me a PT gig in kyoto when 1000s of people were scrambling for work...dammit, i dunno what to do..

and i dont wanna have to deal with the one good thing to come out of Nova..the TIs and the cunts not making my life shite anymore.

do i hafta go back and work with the same fuckers that made the place a shithole to begin with?

Sweet Michaeal Carr and His down under smack @ Higashi Guchi

doable.

I sat down yesterday with one of the representatives from G Com and ask him straight out if they pay shakaihoken and he just said yes. No ifs or humming.
A straight YES.
I was satisfied as I have been payin it for 7 years and do have a family that
need this.

and that they stick to them..i wonder if they do part time work...cuz i got a pt gig i dont wanna giveup.

you of the hideous visage that frightens grown men and angels....how could we NOT follow you in the Pit...

...again?

the Pit..

...again..

curse my chubby fingers.

************MORE INFORMATION************

Aid for ex-Nova staff grows / Union, rival schools arranging lessons to help instructors get by

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20071111TDY02302.htm

"ILS has opened up empty classrooms for Nova teachers and students. The students will pay teachers 500 yen for 40-minute lessons. ILS has produced 3,000 flyers to spread the word about the lessons and has already received inquiries from potential students."

Not to take away from anyone genuinely trying to help - but wouldn`t 500yen be about the same as paying 25% of the lessons again (to G.Comm). This involves helping teachers get proper paying full time jobs, rather than just temporary measures.

For myself, I treat G. Comm with some suspicion, mainly because it doesnt sound feasible in a business sense - but aside from that, i dont think its any good to direct hostility due to Nova at G.Comm. They are for all purposes a new company.

I'm not knocking G-comm. I'm not even an ex-Nova person. Just trying to drop some info in here when I can so that people have options.

Four or five students per teacher per class, at 500 Yen each student is not too bad if you need cash in a hurry, right? No telling when people will have proper positions at G-comm. So better have some immediate and available options to tide you over, yes? Plus some students seem to be interested in this idea, as indicated in the article.

Yes, I agree. Full-time or several part-time jobs should be a main priority as well.

Was surfing today and found this:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=adQHmp02bwc

Suggest everyone contact YouTube and complain about this racist crap.

This guy should be tossed off Youtube ASAP.

The Union,

- encourage us to teach for food.

- embarrass us by dressing up at as the Nova Usagi at the Foreign Press Club last week.

- now they suggest we teach for 500 yen per hour.

I ask the question....WTF NEXT????

PS I know a lot of people are financially hurting at the moment but 500yen? People, please have some self respect.

bile being spewed by those holier-than-thou cunts here and on gaijin-pot?...the ones who got a "better" job at a different school...congratulations..you bailed out of nova before we could..you rock like Slayer!

i hope they all remember your being pricks to others when/if they ever lose a job..(heres hoping they dont cuz i wouldnt wish this crap on my worst enemy)

i really am starting to hate it when these individuals tell people to leave...someone else said it best, nobody but a japanese has the right to say that. (and even when he does, he's probably a jerk..but its his country)

im here to stay..get used to it...youre that pompous gaijin jackass whos too good to nod at a fellow traveller in a foreign land...as if this was ever YOUR land..like it was YOU who discovered it...like YOU are better than everyone cuz you learnt japanese from high school, or have a japanese girlfriend, or practise kimono weaving.

as a human being first, and a japanophile well-second ..i can say this...stick your head up your arse, and go home yourself.

ah..now..tonight i have homemade garlic and schneiders-pepperoni pizza, and provolone prawn cakes!

Heh, GaijinPot... you will find no greater hive of scum and villainy on the Internet.

Yep, the Big Man at Higashiguchi. I don't know any other Titled Instructors still around, either. Looks like Foreign Personnel is still our only point of contact. They deserve a medal for still answering the phones.
Totally agree with Gaijinpot being the Mos Eisley of the Internet. But without the cantina.

The Men in Black "Yakuza" were/are involved.
THINK!

Because lack of Teachers signing up...We must say, we employ all of you.
Create false sense of security, tactic.
Then we can quickly decide the teachers for the 30 schools.
Plans are very flexible...Don't think too much/hard. No hard feelings!
¥500 per hour is all we can pay in the training period, how long?....No promises...very flexible.
We don't decide...our black suit business partners do! Money talks and bullshit walks!
As old Japanese saying goes, "Drowning person will grab onto straw./anything."

No other group/person is trying to help the Nova employees in this mess. The Union has reminded people everywhere that the students AREN'T the only victims.

I highly doubt the Union made that Canadian teacher dress up in the Nova Usagi outfit--she most likely did that on her own.

Some Nova teachers were fortunate enough to have something to fall back on, but for those not so fortunate, something drastic like working for food was in order--Japan certainly didn't rush to the aid of penniless teachers, now did it?

Teaching lessons for 500 yen shows that the Union and teachers are trying to help students screwed over in this too. 500 yen is a bargain!

"To the Tee."

Can anyone please confirm the date that we (continuing employees) are to be paid from? I've heard from the 20th, however on the 'Apply for Employment...' form I wrote Saturday's date (the date of the information sessions), but, like everyone else, I haven't yet been formally offered or signed a contract. So.....from what date will we start to be paid?

No one will read this because I refuse to use profanity when refering to another member of the human race. I refuse to talk( wrong word because no will see your face as you are protected BEHIND ANONYMOUS so I can`t actually speak with you) YOU who really know nothing about Japan and want to say all Japanese are racist,live here for more than 6?? months before you make your decision. Not everything you see as wrong has to do with the yakuza. Okay on to "NOVA" I worked there for over 10 years and I know alot of the bad and even if no one wants to beleives it the good.Actually met Saruhashi once about 9 years ago but that is no longer here or there. I was at the information session yesterday and I found it informative. I`m not 100% certain if E Com. is a good company but believe everyone has to make a decision based on their personal needs,hopes and wants .Whatever any one person decides to do is solely up to them. No one without that persons` history and personal knowledge has any right to criticize,let alone only being able to reply with xxyy$???. No one who is trying to get actually information wants to go through the endlist postings that are nothing more than ravings and profanity.
I do want to thank SHAWN for trying to keep the English community informed; translating Janpanese sites;giving links to other publications ; the people who have tried to give helpful insites and have been called names(things) that no one should be called. Everyone is intitled to their opinion on any subject and you profanity ONLY experts really should try to increase your vocabulary from 4 letter words.

Can everyone please stop bickering and responding to pointless nasty comments. Just ignore them. Can someone confirm from what date continuing employees will be paid? I'd like to be able to calculate how much money I will receive at the end of this month (assuming we are paid some money at the end of this month).

was there any mention of what happens to part timers? do they still have a job?

...having teachers do lessons for 500 yen. This "union" will forever in infamy after its propagation of "slave rate" wages.
Is it some underhand attempt to undercut everyone else out there ? After all this Nova business blows over nobody will expect to pay decent salaries, just 750 yen an hour, like a convenience store or Mc.Donalds.

The answer is: EX-NOVA TEACHERS WILL!

"Why don't we shoot for the minimum wage. It's legal."
Eikaiwa at the price of JUKU! Absolutely disgustingly... Great business idea!
Treat foreigners like Japanese, STOP BEING RACIST! YEAH!!! GREAT!!!!!
Better than not being paid! Why treat them SPECIAL!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage_law
It's LEGAL!

Just like, Japanese worker, and give them all the benefits, pension and hoken, they/teachers pay half in any case.
Japanese Government will be very happy! Bigger profit for company,too. Only ¥5,000 to use teacher for full 8 hour/day!
They have to work over-time=Don't have to employ as many teachers. IT'S LEGAL! HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!

Japenese Bizinesuman : what is your point exactly? Is your post some feeble attempt at satire ? Some people are actually trying to find out what's really going on Jonathan for example .Please can people stop just taking the piss .If you have something of value to say post away ,if not please stop .It's very frustrating having to trawl through all this rubbish.

BTW GM I did read it and agree with every word !!

Supposedly the new company is willing to pay teachers, even if they don't actually do any work, for the month of November starting from when you actually get their short interview and tell them you want the job until the 20th of Nov. You will be paid on the 5th of Dec. However, they are considering paying people daily or weekly for those with severe situations. Basically the pay will be the same as what it was under Nova. Sorry that's all the info. I have right now. I hope it helps.

On the request for work form it states:

Notes:
1 You shall be hired as an employee without specifying a period of employment and work for the time being according to the work area , title , work , form of employment and working conditions as of the when you left NOVA CORP(including it's affiliates)(November 2007).Your work ,form of employment and working conditions may be changed after due consultations between both parties.

2 Even if there is no NOVA school in your desired area of employment and you end up standing by at home ,your salaries shall be fully paid.

3 Your monthly income shall correspond to your final monthly income at NOVA CORP
(including it's affiliates).With regard to the method and date of payment ,the books will be closed on November 20th and your salary will be paid on November 30th.From next month ,the books will be closed at the end of the month and payment will be made on the 5th of each month.

Hope this helps

I wasnt able to get to the meeting...since i dont live in Japan. so....What about people who resigned from Nova, left japan and want to get their backpay? Im sure their are many ppl who are in this situation as I am. I never received any docs once i resigned from Nova.Does any know what ppl like me can do?
Who should i contact to get the necessary docs?
thanks

Contact the "Japanese Embassy" in your country!

Seafood and cheese don't mix, dumbass. Wait a minute! You're Canadian, that's right.

Never mind then.

I'll admit that I'm no Nova teacher, and I can't fully empathize with the people who are unemployed and living from deferred payment to deferred payment. Also, I'm no government employee, so I really can't give anyone the specifics as to what really happens at the governement level in regards to your backpay. I can, however, relate my current situation, which may or may not be in the same ball-park as all of you - getting money back from the government.

So I was paying into the Shakai Hoken system for quite a while, and when I finally decided to leave Japan, I wanted to claim the Shakai Hoken money owed back to me, even if it was under 100000 yen (I mean, hey, I was paying into a system that I never used, right?).

Some of the things that happened I knew about - for example, I would only get 80% of what I was owed back because of the taxes I had to pay on it, and I needed a "representative" to apply for the remaining 20% of money supposedly taxed by the government. Why can the government tax 20% from what they owe you and give it back to you if your "representative" can ask for it back? I don't know. I could try and give some guesses, but I'll only start rumors, which is the last thing that everyone needs.

Some of the things that happened, I NEVER knew about - this especially includes the conflicting information that the government officials have told me and the loooong wait for my money.

When I first applied to get my Shakai Hoken refund, I was told that it would be about 2 months before I would get my money. I shrugged it off; I mean, we all know that dealing with government entities take time, right? "At least they gave me a time frame," I sighed.

My, how naive I was.

I left Japan in April. I figured I'd have the money (at least 80% of it, seeing how getting the other 20% seemed so ridiculously "mendokusai" and I didn't want to burden my friends by asking them to go through the whole application to get the rest of my money back on MY BEHALF and handle all of that while I was already living outside of Japan) by June, but in reality I gave them until July. If you gentlemen and women look at your calendar, you'll notice that it is now November - more than 6 months since I left.

Yes, I have called the Shakai Hoken information line and asked them what's going on. Here's some of the excuses they've given me:

- I'm sorry (most common).
- Due to the Shakai Hoken scandal earlier this year (where the gov't admitted to losing the records to a vast amount of people who were paying into the Shakai Hoken system), we are taking longer to process applications. --This was actually the most believable.
- I can't find your record anywhere (yeah, right - this was after I had confirmed they had received it)

Most recent response:

- We are still processing your file, and will start the refund process early next year.

Holy crap, early next year?!? Well, not wanting to go to the local Japanese embassy and open a can of WHUP ASS on anyone, I just said "sure," because 40000 yen isn't something to really make a fuss out of. While I'd LIKE to get some play money from the government (I mean, c'mon, my old CAR INSURANCE company took less time to reissue a check from a cancelled policy 5 years ago), I'm not in dire straights and don't need the funds AT THIS MINUTE.

If I WAS in dire straights and DID need the money, I would then weigh my options:

1. File a complaint about the Shakai Hoken department (hah, like they'd even read it)
2. Petition that they handle their cases faster (may make a change, but I wouldn't hold my breath)
3. Call my congressman and ask them to sponsor and pass a bill to bomb the hell out of Japan if my 40000 yen isn't refunded to me in a week (but that would make me too American)
4. Somehow find a job in the Shakai Hoken department of the government, and everyday steal about 1000 yen from my boss's wallet for the next 40 days.
5. Sit and wait.

So, hopefully the road to getting your back pay isn't as rocky as mine, but I just wanted to share my experience - getting money back from the government (in my case) is as hard as getting your virginity back after you've been pounded in the butt by everyone in cell block D.

Good luck, and has anyone here ALREADY started to process of collecting their backpay from the gov't? I'm curious to see how it is going with those folks.

I just rang the Nova line to find out how I go about applying for a new position (wasn't at the meetings on saturday).

Unfortunately they dont really know anything yet - told me to call back after lunch.

i know...thats everyone in here ya cowards...BUT you aint had my provolone prawn cakes!..(and u never will!)

most folks in NEW ENGLAND, which is in AMERICA...have them with scallops...which is also a seafood...dont talk to me about cooking,..you of the baloney sandwich on your date with Bertha.

Philistine.

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