Nova Branch History

The Birth of the Union
September 6, 1994

In a knee-jerk reaction to the arrest of an instructor on drug charges, Nova management unilaterally decided to openly discriminate against its foreign employees by implementing a drug testing policy that excluded Japanese staff. Management attempted to force teachers to sign a letter of consent for mandatory drug testing. Teachers were threatened with instant dismissal if they refused to sign the agreement. "Sign or pack your things," was the motto of the day. Faced with the threat of unemployment, many teachers elected to sign. Teachers were forbidden to take copies of the consent letters, nor were they given time to seek legal advice.

Existing Nova union members took the initiative in advising coworkers of their rights. As a result, a number of schools saw an overwhelming majority of teachers rejecting Nova's ultimatum and refusing to sign the letter. Frantic phone calls across Kansai ensured standing room only at a hastily convened meeting of the General Union Nova Union Branch on the Sunday (Sept 10^th) immediately following the announcement.

Demands were formulated; press conferences held. This violation of human rights was spurring NOVA employees across the country to act, seeing the birth of the General Union-Nova branch (Kansai) and National Union of General Workers-Nova Union Branch (Kanto). It was a tumultuous time with hundreds of people joining both unions on mass and participating in demonstrations. The rallying cry was "Saruhashi can piss all he wants but we ain't pissing for Nova."

With the threat of industrial action Nova was forced to back down on the issue. The fate of such testing was sealed when on 25th July 1995, the Human Rights Committee of the Osaka Bar Association ruled that the testing was not only discriminatory as it was aimed at only foreign employees but also a violation of instructors' human rights.

While the clause still remains in the contract, Nova has quietly backed away from the issue, having never tested a single person.

Read the Osaka Bar Association Ruling