OFSET Annual General Meeting Agenda
May 8, 2008
- Introduction
from Morita-san (head of the high school teacher's section)
l Restated Hashimoto's plan to review budget
l Temporary budget instated until the end of July
l Recommended at least a 20% cut in the overall budget
l Not yet finalized; departmental discussions still underway
l Publish results by the end of June, to be effective from August
l Budget cuts will be realized through reduction of numbers, salary, and/or distribution of NETs
l The most important thing is to determine how important NET is for the people of Osaka. They will collect opinions from the community, PTA, and finally presented by the principal of each school.
l It is in the NETs' best interest to try to work with everyone with whom we have an immediate, daily relationship (PTA, school administration, English department, students) in order to forward our cause.
l Joining with other organizations in an official manner would be inappropriate and inadvisable
l In summary: grass-roots movement
- Statement
and summary of goal: “Keep our jobs, expand media presence.”
l Help those NETs who want to be helped.
l Rally our base – co-workers, students, PTA, and community
l Next press conference – handing in of surveys
l Presentation of an actual in-school lesson (permission pending)
l Combine survey with follow-up letter and ?
- Former
Business
l Web presence has increased
l Press conference carried out
l ILO meeting for Japanese attended
l Increase in unity within the NETs through the union
- Current
Business
l Steven reaffirmed as General Secretary
l Seven officers elected: Johnny Capria, Damien Wilson, Helen Ootori, Sally Heighway, Stephen Jones, Janet Wint, and Cailean Babcock. No official titles; responsibility will be shared and/or delegated based on need.
l Hard copies of all union business to be kept as a historical record
l Will begin drafting an official union charter to codify the mission of the union and the function of its general secretary and officers
l Wording for survey:
“The Osaka prefectural
government is considering cutting the Native English Teacher (NET) program
after July 31st based on budget limitations. ___________________ would like to
continue working as an Osaka high school English teacher. What are your thoughts and feelings if
_________________ is no longer able to teach at _______________________?”
l Make sure to include description of the NET program.
l Distribute to current students and parents, PTA, English department, vice-principal, principal.
l Allow students to write an opinion per class and then have all students sign
l Personal letters can be accepted, too.
l The point is not that every letter be read, but that we make a good impression with the sheer bulk of letters; make sure the best comments are sorted and put on top
l Best comments to be presented on the web site for public and press access
l All union members who attended the first press conference should be compensated for their travel expenses
l Budget: Explained to new officers about how the union budget is managed
l Budget: Discussion about how the union is involved in a charity effort to help refugees from Burma (the Karenni tribe)
l Get a celebrity speaker to come in and speak to students directly to show how NETs are benefiting Osaka
- New
Business (until July 31st)
l ILO allegation points need to be reviewed and all points we feel the BOE is infracting upon need to be indicated and explained
l Arrange informal meeting with BOE (Matsumoto and Nishida) to air our concerns and find out where the BOE stands at this point
l Osaka PTA wants to meet with us; we should invite them to an open lesson so that we can get them involved in our cause
l MEXT: tabled for now
l JET: Big Daikon, Dave's ESL – get in touch with Kansai area teachers who subscribe to the site and are interested in improving English education in Japan
l T-NET – can't do anything about it
l Despite the BOE's statement that the contracts have not changed, it appears that certain NETs (especially those who started in April) are not paying into the pension system. All NETs who have noticed this change in their contract need to come forward and notify the union.