GU British Council Branch ブリティッシュ・カウンシル支部

The General Union has been involved with the British Council since 2000 when we dealt with the unfair dismissal of a union member in Nagoya. In 2004 we became more directly involved with a declaration of a union branch in both Osaka & Kyoto to deal with the closure of the Kyoto school. In the Kyoto case, we were able to resolve many of the problems that teachers and staff encountered during the closure.

Since 2006 we have been dealing with improving the working conditions of teachers in the Osaka school. Thus far we have accomplished the following:

1. Enrollment of our members into the unemployment, health, pension, and workers’ accident insurance programmes.

2. A ‘prior-consultation agreement’ (‘Jizenkyogisei’) which requires the British Council to consult with the union prior to making changes to full time and part time members’ working conditions. This will protect teachers from sudden changes to working conditions and allow members time to build workplace opposition to any moves to worsen working conditions. We hope to expand this to cover hourly paid teachers and staff.

3. A ‘prior-consultation agreement’ that covers teaching time. In the past, full and part time teachers had their teaching hours stipulated in their employment contracts. We now have a collective agreement which provides for more security than an employment contract stipulation. We would now like to work towards more job security for hourly paid teachers.

4. Union notice board. The British Council has also agreed to provide an A3 space in the staff room for the posting of union materials. We hope that this is a sign that the British Council wants a good relationship with the union.

British Council News

GU British Council members win extended rights - 2007-06-06 - British Council

British Council teachers in Osaka who joined the GU when we were dealing with the closure of the British Council (BC) Kyoto School have won more rights at work. On May ...read more

Spain - BC teachers' union strikes for decent pay - 2003-07-18 - British Council

Benn backs language centre pay claim
Liz Ford, Friday July 18, 2003
The Guardian

The former Labour MP Tony Benn has offered his support to staff at an English language ...read more

Language centre staff strike over pay - 2003-06-18 - British Council

Liz Ford
Wednesday June 18 2003
The Guardian

English teachers at a language centre in Spain have voted to step up their campaign for better pay with a series of ...read more