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Marchers protest gaba teachers in Japan

TOKYO, Japan (GTA) -- Massive street marches to protest the flood of low-wage English teachers took place in dozens of major cities in Japan.

"These low-wage ubiquitous workers keep coming into the country and bring down wages for everyone," said Lydia Smith, a board member with the League of United English Teachers For Higher Wages, or LUETFORHIWA, which promoted the largest protest in Ginza. "Especially, Gaba teachers."

Police estimated the crowd at 10,000 to 15,000. There were no reports of violence.

Keeping undocumented teachers out...

Some members of the group favor constructing a wall around Japan to keep such workers out.

"These undocumented workers come into the country illegally and take our jobs," said 43-year old Berlitz teacher, Michael Love. "Most have no right to be here. I say, send all of the Gaba teachers back home. Who's with me!!"

However, Gaba teachers have argued that they are necessary as they are willing to do the work that others are not.

"Who else will teach man-to-man lessons for 1350 yen an hour," Gaba rights advocates shouted back at the protesters. "We just want to work!"

"We all know pay a lot of people won't work for the minimum here, so if they won't take the job, what's the problem?" pro-Gaba counter-protester Jenny Schumacher, 27, told the GTA in Osaka.

What do economists have to say?

"We find there is a definite correlation between the number of low-wage, undocumented workers flowing into the country and a life-sucking, chokehold-like stifling on the wages of English teachers in Japan," argued Matt Handy, a tenured professor at the prestigious Wermer School of Economics. "If things continue the way they are going, we envision an industry where schools use easily replaceable college graduates as so-called "part-time workers" or "independently contracted" instructors, yet pay them such a low salary that they ultimately end up working nearly full-time schedules. However, companies will be able to save billions of yen by not having to pay law-required benefits."

The Gaba Teachers Association: Serving teachers at Gaba Japan, Nova Japan, Geos Japan, Aeon Japan, ECC Japan, and Berlitz Japan since 2005. The Gaba Teachers Association is dedicated to reporting the latest news from the English school industry. This is a site for that covers all news that impacts those who teach English in Japan. If you are teaching English at NOVA, GEOS, Berlitz, ECC or any other Eikaiwa school, check us out.
The GABA TEACHERS ASSOCIATION is the most provoc-ative name in eikaiwa news today. Since 1994, the Gaba Teachers Association has been dedicated to reporting the latest news from the English school industry in Japan.